Abstract: A one-site fruit or vegetable processing and packaging facility and method of processing, packaging, and shipping blended juices and juice concentrates. A single extended enclosure is provided within which the facility equipment and associated functions are housed. The facility further includes stages, preferably in seriatim, for (a) receiving raw fruit or vegetables, (b) crushing the fruit or vegetables into a mash, (c) extracting juice from the mash, (d) juice pasteurizing and aroma essence stripping to produce aseptic juice, (e) microfiltration of the aseptic juice and (f) removing excess water from aseptic juice making a concentrated aseptic juice. The concentrated aseptic juice is either placed into bulk shipment containers ready for shipment or blended with separate fruit or vegetable juice concentrates separately received and stored in the facility to produce a desired blended juice with high uniformity and consistency.

Abstract: A one-site fruit processing and packaging facility and method of processing, packaging, and shipping blended fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. A single extended enclosure is provided within which the facility equipment and associated functions are housed. The facility further includes, preferably in seriatim, a fruit shipment receiving area for receiving fruit shipments, fruit crushing equipment for crushing the fruit into a fruit mash, a juice extraction station for extracting juice from said fruit mash by preheating, enzyme treating and depectizing juices from the fruit mash, juice pasteurizing and aroma essence stripping to produce aseptic juice, microfiltration of the aseptic juice received from the pasteurizing station, and an evaporative juice concentration stage to remove excess water from aseptic juice into a concentrated juice. A portion of concentrated aseptic juice is typically then placed into bulk shipment containers ready for shipment.