How to SCALE Your Freeze-Drying Business | Interview with Parker Freeze Dry | Freeze Drying
May 15, 2025
If you want to scale your freeze-drying business to the next level of commercial or industrial size, you need a freeze-dryer to perform at the same scale. In this episode of the ‘Creative Freeze-Drying Series’, I interview the sales and marketing director for Parker Freeze Dry. This series is all about exploring the world of the freeze-drying industry and hopefully inspiring you to achieve more in your business by looking at current successful companies in the freeze-drying space.
Topics covered in this video:
- Who is Parker Freeze-Dry?
- At what point should you look at a commercial-grade freeze-dryer?
- Fine-tuning a freeze-drying recipe?
- How long does it take to freeze-dry 100 lbs of food?
Check out Parker Freeze-Dry here: https://parkerfreezedry.com/
Matt Graunke - [email protected]
Sales & Marketing Manager
Here are several other videos you should watch that I mentioned in this video:
- Episode 1 Sweet Potato Awesome: https://youtu.be/TySH666DmjE
- Episode 2 Nutri-Freeze Dry: https://youtu.be/hztAakmnO8M
- Episode 3 Yo's Fro Yo Bites: https://youtu.be/ebQQEHz64yM
Here are several freeze-dryers I use in my business and I would recommend considering them for your existing freeze-dried business or just starting out.
- Harvest Right Freeze Dryers - Start with the Large and then upgrade to an XL as you start increasing your customer portfolio. https://affiliates.harvestright.com/1974.html
Here's a review of the Harvest Right Freeze-Dryer: https://youtu.be/m265Pm8z5as
I use Zazzle to buy stamps, business cards, flyers, and more for my freeze-dried business. There are always great discounts each month and fast shipping.
https://www.zazzle.com/?rf=238503539567772737
Do you need help with logo and brand design for your business? I use Tailor Brands to create logos, style guides, pdfs, etc for my freeze-dried business. I recommend checking them out - https://tailorbrands.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=1&aff_id=5894
Here are other tools I use for my freeze-dried business:
- Fry Slicer for Apples - https://amzn.to/3BZ9QeY
- Cookie/Ice Cream Scoop (1/2 or 1 tablespoon size) - https://amzn.to/3utyX4H
- 5 Gallon Storage Pails with Gamma Screw Lid - https://amzn.to/3ICnXdT
- Hefty 2.5 Gallon Jumbo Bags - https://amzn.to/3GpQ90P
- Cutco Scissors - https://amzn.to/3vORJ7A
- Knife Sharpener - https://amzn.to/3Vrttml
- Large cutting board - https://amzn.to/3GqhIYN
- Food Scale - https://amzn.to/3FyO9DW
Here are several frequently purchased items, I buy for my freeze-dried business:
- Plastic Totes with Lids for Storage - https://amzn.to/3pQOMU8
- Avery Labels for Product Ingredients - https://amzn.to/3VEpjbo
- Oxygen Absorbers (200 pack, 50cc) - https://amzn.to/3VGPkqS
- Dry & Dry 1 Gram(400 Packets) Food Safe Silica Packets: https://amzn.to/3h45CLc
- Square Chip Reader for Events - https://amzn.to/3h4cbNX
- Rollo Printer for Shipping Labels - https://amzn.to/3W1ylzj
- Kraft Food Bags (100 counts) - https://amzn.to/3iGpi8n
- Food grade nitrile gloves: https://amzn.to/3EYe2gl
Candy I buy on Amazon:
- Charleston Chews 120 count - https://amzn.to/3FfTf7z
- Charleston Chews Rollers - https://amzn.to/3FfTf7z
- Jolly Ranchers 80oz Bag - https://amzn.to/3XVsWLI
- Taffy - https://amzn.to/3YhHftL
- Wild Berry Skittles - https://amzn.to/3zg8Dxt
DISCLAIMER: This video description contains affiliate links, meaning I'll receive a small commission if you click on one of the product links. This helps support my channel and allows me to continue making videos. Thank you for the support!
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0:00
if you're looking to scale your freeze
0:01
dry business one of the first things
0:02
you're going to be looking for is
0:03
equipment now you want some type of
0:05
manufacturer can help build you a
0:07
machine that can help accelerate that
0:09
growth faster run times more consistent
0:12
types of products that comes out of the
0:14
freeze dryer so there's less throwaway
0:15
rate and you're going to want to know
0:17
someone who can help you with the
0:18
service side of that type of freeze
0:20
dryer in this episode of the creative
0:21
freeze drying series I'm going to be
0:23
interviewing the director of Parker
0:25
freeze dry in this interview you're
0:26
going to know who parker freeze dry is
0:28
what machines do they make when is the
0:30
right time to look at an industrial
0:31
freeze dryer based on the size of your
0:33
company as well as we're going to ask
0:35
him some advice and things that he's
0:37
seeing in the industry that I believe
0:38
will really help you gain more insight
0:40
into the freeze drying world so let's
0:42
get to the interview and I'll introduce
0:43
you to Matt all right welcome back to
0:45
another edition of the creative freeze
0:47
drying series we're doing things like
0:49
interviewing people who are
0:51
manufacturing equipment for freeze
0:52
drying accessories and also people who
0:55
are doing different things with products
0:57
to freeze dry as well but today we're
1:00
here with Matt from Parker freeze dryer
1:02
they are based in Minnesota as well as a
1:05
new location that Matt's going to talk
1:07
about in this interview but we want to
1:09
Welcome Matt to the freeze dry business
1:11
Channel and Matt why don't you introduce
1:13
yourself what you do for Parker freeze
1:15
dry and what the company is all about
1:17
would be a great start for all of us to
1:18
hear so my name is Matt grony I am the
1:21
sales and marketing manager for proor
1:24
fabrication which is the parent company
1:26
of Parker Freez dry that's one of our
1:28
divisions here I spend most of my time
1:31
in that brand we do have a couple other
1:33
things that we work on as well but for
1:35
the most part you know as a manufacturer
1:37
of industrial commercial freeze drying
1:39
equipment that's where most of my time
1:41
is spent my role here with the group is
1:43
is to head up sales operations and then
1:47
set up opportunities for marketing
1:49
opportunities where we'll be working
1:51
with various universities graduate
1:54
programs doctor programs a lot of stuff
1:56
in animal nutrition science companion
1:59
nutrition science human food you know I
2:02
mean biotech there's a lot of different
2:04
things going on with freeze drying that
2:05
I'm sure we'll talk about later but I
2:07
kind of got my fingers in all of that
2:12
stuff Parker freeze dry was founded I
2:15
want to say about 20 years ago over in
2:17
the Wisconsin area and our company
2:20
profor fabrication was a manufacturer
2:24
for him we fabricated all the vacuum
2:26
Chambers all of the sanitary stainless
2:28
work and then we would send it off to
2:30
their facility and that went on for you
2:32
know close to two decades and the
2:34
opportunity came up for us to purchase
2:38
Parker freeze dry and we we looked into
2:40
it and and saw that there was a lot of
2:42
potential there for this industry and
2:46
our our ownership group decided to
2:47
acquire those the intellectual property
2:50
and bring it all in house so Parker
2:52
freezer then became a division of proor
2:55
fabrication and that transaction
2:58
probably was
3:00
three and a half years ago maybe four so
3:02
we kind of took that relationship we had
3:05
as a vendor to the next level to become
3:08
the owner kind of started making some
3:09
Innovations on the design as it existed
3:12
in the last couple years we've added a
3:14
lot of different features that that we
3:16
felt were necessary and so far they're
3:18
proving to be we we had the right idea
3:21
because the interest is pretty high on
3:23
on this stuff so that's kind of what
3:25
we've been up to for the last couple
3:27
years here is just defeating the
3:29
industry we get a lot of calls from
3:31
people that are you know viewers of your
3:33
channel that are in the hobby stage or
3:35
in the the fledgling entrepreneurial
3:38
stage and they're just kind of wondering
3:40
what happens next you know I've got one
3:42
of these machines and I've got a product
3:44
that works what do I do now I've got 10
3:47
of these machines I think I've got the
3:49
customer base what do I do now how do I
3:51
take this to that next level because we
3:53
we were all aware of the challenges of
3:56
trying to operate a you know a fullscale
3:58
commercial business with equipment
4:00
that's designed to be worked at a hobby
4:03
or residential
4:06
level when does someone actually come to
4:09
you to look at freeze dryers and is it
4:11
based on capacity is it based on you
4:14
know volume is it based on you know
4:18
actually low amounts of Maintenance
4:19
compared to having to maintain 20
4:21
different freeze dryers where do you fit
4:23
in to for someone to kind of like know
4:26
whether they should be looking at Parker
4:28
freeze dryer any type of indust freeze
4:30
dryer from what I'm hearing from people
4:31
that are reaching out to us and where
4:33
most people are at when they're
4:34
contacting us is they're they're getting
4:37
into that stage that switches from you
4:41
know small batch production to high
4:44
volume production and that's where it
4:46
comes into play some of the things
4:49
you're going to gain when you when you
4:50
move into this realm of equipment is
4:54
efficiency and reliability so you know
4:56
the vacuum pumps are more more
4:59
aggressive or not aggressive more
5:01
powerful so they're getting down to that
5:03
that pressure a lot faster lack of
5:06
pressure I guess your Refrigeration
5:08
component is moving a lot more air at a
5:11
commercial level of equipment than what
5:13
you're seeing on your on your countertop
5:16
units that uh that most people are
5:18
familiar with so you know not only are
5:20
you getting the scale of what can you
5:23
fit in there and process efficiently but
5:27
how fast can you do it too because this
5:30
equipment is I mean for lack of a bet
5:32
I'm a I'm a gear head out of History
5:35
here so it's a higher horsepower piece
5:37
of ma piece of equipment it can it can
5:40
get a lot more done in in a little in
5:42
less time now that being said you know
5:44
with freeze drying ultimately that's not
5:47
something you can really speed up once
5:49
you've got the exact parameters put in
5:52
there because you know you just start
5:53
applying more heat you're just cooking
5:55
it you're not really freeze drying it at
5:56
that point but cooking it under vacuum
5:59
instead you know we we work really hard
6:00
at Parker to provide customer service to
6:03
all of our customers and we want to have
6:05
conversations with them and we want to
6:06
help them solve their problem now that
6:08
being said you know as a manufacturer of
6:11
freeze drying equipment one thing we
6:13
don't get involved with is the the
6:16
recipe development the process
6:18
development side of things so you know
6:21
it's it's up to the customer to have
6:24
their process figured out and and and
6:27
the reason that this is important is
6:29
these are fully programmable units so
6:33
where you're used to just putting your
6:35
product in there and hitting go and
6:37
walking away and then you come back in
6:40
20 hours 26 hours however long and it's
6:44
done so there's no flexibility there it
6:47
just kind of is what it is with units
6:49
when you get into this commercial
6:51
industrial realm especially with ours
6:54
you know we basically allow fully
6:57
programmable recallable
7:00
and provide a bunch of feedback so after
7:03
you run that process then you can pick
7:04
it apart and watch for you know
7:07
indicators throughout the process from
7:09
all of the feedback you're getting back
7:11
from your product throughout the run the
7:14
behavior of the machine throughout the
7:16
run and the different components the
7:18
refrigeration the heating elements the
7:21
vacuum levels you know how hard is the
7:24
compressor working there's a lot of
7:25
different things that are all happening
7:27
there and you'll take the time to really
7:30
drill down and
7:32
identify okay I think this step this
7:34
primary dry phase can be shortened up or
7:37
we need to go a little longer here or
7:40
this jump from 60 degre to 80 degrees
7:43
was a little hard on the product so
7:45
let's you know let's slow that down next
7:48
time and and that's kind of that's what
7:50
I get in when I'm saying like recipe
7:52
development you know we can't tell you
7:54
how to do that we can show you what the
7:56
machine is telling you right but it's up
7:59
to the the user we don't get involved in
8:01
the in the fine tuning of the recipes
8:03
for
8:06
them so when you're saying you've got
8:09
the fine-tuning of your process does
8:11
that mean like the freeze-dried let's
8:14
say fruit that's coming out of there
8:17
it's in a in a better preserved freeze
8:20
drying State than something who is
8:22
something that's over overdried or
8:26
something that uh didn't didn't
8:28
basically extract enough water so like
8:30
you have a less throwaway weight uh rate
8:35
yeah I'd say I'd say that's a good a
8:37
good way to put that part of having all
8:39
the different components and all of the
8:40
higher quality components and everything
8:42
is that you're going to get more
8:43
consistent results across your entire
8:45
batch so it's going to be important that
8:47
you have your batch set properly because
8:49
everything should come out the same the
8:51
way that our system is set up um you
8:53
know we use electric heat for each of
8:55
the pan each product pan and machines
8:57
range in batch sizes from about 100
8:59
pound up to 4,000 pound so when loaded
9:03
properly and consistently with
9:06
consistent product and um a consistent
9:09
program across the board you should have
9:12
100 pounds or I guess the dry weight of
9:15
of whatever you started with you know
9:17
across the whole board there shouldn't
9:19
be an anticipated throwaway if you're
9:22
setting it up properly because the
9:24
system has enough controls in place to
9:26
give you the you know optimal results
9:29
and that's part of that whole jump from
9:31
dealing with residential equipment
9:33
versus getting into fulls scale
9:35
production
9:38
mode so what type of a freeze dryer
9:40
equipment do you have so you said you
9:41
have 100 all the way up to 4,000 lb is
9:45
that how long does a cycle take for 100
9:48
pounds versus that 4,000 pound type of
9:52
machine the cycle time doesn't change
9:54
because the machines are scaled if you
9:56
have a process in place for and I'm just
9:59
going to call animal protein okay that
10:01
can be a lot of different things but
10:03
it's nice and consistent and it's easy
10:04
to discuss if you're talking about
10:06
animal protein in our Summit model which
10:08
is our 100 pound unit actually it's like
10:11
97.5 is what we recommend for the max
10:13
load it's 15 trays about six pounds a
10:17
tray when you're all said and done that
10:19
kind of a process you're looking at
10:22
probably you know 18 hours 20 depending
10:25
on how you set it up start with that
10:27
Summit model in your
10:29
business plan and you've ran it for a
10:32
year and now you're ready to expand
10:34
beyond that you get into anything from
10:35
our Parker 2 which is a 500 PB unit all
10:39
the way up to the Parker 16 which is the
10:41
4,000 pound unit that same profile and
10:44
recipe that you set up in the summit
10:47
goes into that same other unit and all
10:49
you're increasing is the volume and the
10:51
energy usage obviously but you know
10:54
we've designed the systems to scale so
10:57
the the recipe profile can remain the
11:00
same as the business grows you're just
11:02
adding more
11:06
product curiosity question okay so 500
11:10
pounds of strawberries well strawberries
11:14
typically have pretty high water Capac
11:17
like ratio so let's just say it's 90% I
11:20
mean where does you know 400 pounds of
11:23
water go to yeah when you're setting
11:26
something like that up you know like
11:27
where where does that all go to because
11:30
typically we're just used to like a
11:32
bucket us us home and like smaller
11:36
commercial you know freeze dryer type
11:38
people you know we're just used to
11:39
having one batch that's more you know
11:42
like between 12 to 25 pounds or so like
11:45
that you'd be surprised how many people
11:47
don't think about that until after you
11:49
know way deep in the conversations I
11:51
love that you brought that up right off
11:52
the bet because so we we our our system
11:55
has cold plates in the chambers and that
11:57
collects the ice you know as as when
11:59
it's under vacuum the moisture goes
12:01
there and it stays there when the
12:02
process is done we have an automated
12:04
defrost in our systems on our large
12:07
systems the the summit model is a is a
12:09
manual defrost but Parker 2 on up you
12:12
know 500 pound up to 4,000 pound they
12:14
have an automated defrost and all of
12:16
that ice basically melts off in chunks
12:19
and winds up on the bottom of the
12:20
chamber so there is a component of
12:23
disposal that needs to be considered
12:25
when you're looking at your facility or
12:27
you're looking at your location is there
12:29
any rules in your municipality about
12:30
what can go down the drain is there any
12:32
contaminants that you need to be
12:34
concerned about I have some customers
12:37
that are recovering that ice and I'm not
12:39
sure what they're doing with it after
12:40
the fact but it has value to them but I
12:43
do have customers that save it I have
12:44
other customers that shovel it out and
12:46
it goes outside some are putting it just
12:49
on the drain depending on how their
12:51
facility is set up but either way it
12:53
does need to be defrosted before you
12:55
start that next cycle for optimal
12:56
results what happens to the Freez dryer
12:59
if you have water existing in there it
13:01
violently boils and then turns into ice
13:04
and then if it's near the heat Source
13:06
then it'll sublimate eventually but it
13:10
yeah water is funny under vacuum I mean
13:12
everything changes under vacuum like
13:14
everything you you know about physics is
13:16
wrong once you take the atmosphere away
13:19
so there there's lots of videos out
13:21
there where you can see where people are
13:22
doing experience experiments to kind of
13:25
document the sublimation process and
13:27
where that I forget what the actual
13:29
temperature is where it boils I want to
13:31
say it's like 40° or something like
13:35
that what's the typical time frame of
13:38
the freeze dryer now with with capacity
13:40
so let's talk about that 100 pound
13:42
machine you know how long does that
13:44
typically take for a 100 pounds of food
13:49
to actually freeze dry A good rule of
13:51
thumb for all this equipment you're
13:53
probably getting a batch per day you
13:54
know a a food based slurry if whether
13:58
it's a salt that's cubed you know as
14:00
long as it's something that's consistent
14:03
that that is you know easily freeze
14:06
dryable high surface area you know you
14:08
throw a whole steak in there or a whole
14:11
chicken breast then you you're kind of
14:12
dealing with a whole different animal we
14:14
usually guesstimate that you're you're
14:16
you're counting on a batch a day now now
14:18
the caveat there is is with the candy
14:20
industry some of our customers are are
14:23
turning it a little faster but with the
14:25
candy industry it's not always about the
14:28
full sublimation and lization of it they
14:31
kind of just want it to blow up so it
14:34
can get done a little faster as part of
14:35
that speeding up the process you know
14:37
where they're they're purposely getting
14:39
a little bit of melt back going on
14:43
there if you're hitting around 8 to 10
14:46
individual freeze dryers you're going to
14:48
start wanting to kind of look at
14:50
something like that Summit because now
14:53
you can basically have one machine one
14:56
types of machine that you're maintening
14:58
maintaining for the for the capacity
15:01
that you're looking for if that's where
15:03
you're at and you're planning on getting
15:05
beyond that that's that's certainly the
15:07
answer you know it's it's that first
15:09
step getting into that level of
15:11
production it's a continuous batch
15:13
process I guess is the way I would say
15:15
you know and our customers that are you
15:18
know up into the 2500 pound units
15:21
they've got a reason to have more
15:23
Workforce there some of them are running
15:25
multiple 2500 pound units and they've
15:29
basically got a rotation set up amongst
15:33
two shifts so that they're constant
15:35
every couple hours they're switching the
15:37
next machine over that's where you
15:39
really start to see the scale is getting
15:40
into it that far I hope you're enjoying
15:42
the interview I wanted to interject here
15:44
because I want to invite you to a couple
15:46
other of my episodes on the creative
15:47
freeze drying series specifically the
15:49
ones that I talk to specific companies
15:51
who are doing creative freeze drying
15:54
products and that is sweet potato
15:55
awesome and Yo's fro yo bites now I'm
15:57
going to put the link Link in those
15:59
episodes Below in the video description
16:01
it's also going to be at the tail end of
16:02
this video in the thumbnails so make
16:04
sure you take a look at those if this
16:06
interests you I think you'll be really
16:07
fascinated with what these two
16:08
individuals are doing with their
16:10
companies because they scaled from a
16:12
small product size all the way up to
16:14
this size which is more commercial and
16:15
Industrial all right thanks a lot hit
16:17
the like button if you're liking this
16:18
video so far and let's get back to the
16:23
interview how big of a space typically
16:25
with your customers that you have for
16:27
the summit Do do they have square
16:29
footage wise that you typically see yeah
16:32
so not knowing about all of the
16:34
pre-process and postprocess for
16:36
everybody's different needs what I can
16:38
tell you for sure is that the Summit is
16:41
is it needs about a 5 by5 work area that
16:45
gets enough room to open the doors take
16:48
a look at the inside if you need to if
16:50
you need to take a panel off to take a
16:51
look at something you know it gives you
16:53
the space to do that safely it's about a
16:55
5x5 unit about six feet tall with the
16:58
silencer installed and it weighs about
17:00
2500 lb okay so it's a it's a solid
17:04
piece of stainless steel that that you
17:06
know we fabricate here on site and
17:08
assemble and test and everything's done
17:10
here so from a power standpoint the
17:13
summit model we designed that to run on
17:15
a single phase so it's 240 volt with a
17:18
60 amp service which is pretty easy to
17:21
get almost anywhere you get into our
17:23
larger units that's when you start
17:25
getting into the three-phase power and
17:28
it has a separate Refrigeration
17:30
component that's installed Outdoors that
17:32
needs to be piped to the machine that
17:34
that those installs get to be a little
17:35
bit more in depth whereas the Summit is
17:37
is almost a plug-and play you know
17:39
you'll need your your licensed
17:41
electrician to install the receptacle
17:43
that we provide but once it arrives you
17:45
just plug it into that and turn it on
17:48
and and go it's ready to roll is the
17:50
machine loud is it need a lot of
17:52
ventilation when it's running you know
17:54
and I'll I'll call it Full Tilt at the
17:57
beginning of the cycle the the
17:59
refrigeration's running the vacuum
18:00
pump's running everything's running
18:02
you're coming in 85 DB around there you
18:06
know and you can sit and talk next to it
18:09
once it gets out of that primary dry
18:11
phase and it starts to settle down a
18:13
little bit it gets a little quieter but
18:15
you don't have any concerns about you
18:18
know ear protection or anything like
18:20
that with some like you find in some
18:22
commercial kitchens this piece of
18:24
equipment is is easy on the ears I guess
18:27
for for lack of a better term you want
18:29
it indoors you want it in a climate
18:31
controlled area it's going to kick off a
18:33
little heat there's going to be some
18:34
condensation coming out of it at the and
18:36
you know the opening for the for the
18:39
pump and for the vent for the
18:40
refrigeration side so you want it near a
18:42
a floor drain or at least close enough
18:44
to one that you can hook a hose up to it
18:46
to get it over there also for the
18:48
defrost side of things you know you're
18:51
going to take out your big ice chunks
18:52
but the stuff that melts you're going to
18:53
want to make sure that's got somewhere
18:55
to
18:57
go
18:58
what's the most interesting freeze-dried
19:01
company that you've encountered like in
19:04
terms of what they are actually using
19:06
equipment to freeze dry and sell we have
19:09
ndas with everybody we work with because
19:12
nobody wants competition it it's really
19:14
wild David because we get calls every
19:17
week and it's of of different companies
19:20
and different scientists and different
19:22
people thinking like what if I put this
19:24
in there can you do this much of this
19:26
what happens you know I've heard stuff
19:28
on the egg side of things from you know
19:30
like fertilizer natural type pesticide
19:33
stuff we've got all the different sides
19:35
of the food industry whether it's candy
19:39
backpacking meals people exploring
19:41
insect proteins there's all the
19:44
different sides of the food industry we
19:47
have a customer down in Texas that has
19:49
set up their company called milfi that
19:52
that we've done some some advertising
19:54
stuff with them they have an exchange
19:57
program that they develop where they're
19:58
freeze drying breast milk as instead of
20:01
a formula type of instead of having to
20:03
go with formula they can preserve the
20:04
actual breast milk and then save it for
20:07
as long as the mother needs it for but
20:09
we do have a testing program in play
20:10
here at Parker that you know if somebody
20:12
wants to send us a complete batch we can
20:15
look at opportunities to run it through
20:17
our Summit and and do some water
20:19
activity tests on it after it's done
20:22
yeah so that's that's one of the things
20:24
that we do when it comes to the scaling
20:25
side of things weirdest thing I did
20:27
David was I
20:28
we we we get maple syrup from our
20:30
property we tap like 80 trees in the
20:32
spring so I wanted to try and create
20:35
some kind of concentrated maple
20:37
flavoring sugar thing for a a moonshine
20:41
project that I had and it never panned
20:43
out because the syrup wouldn't freeze
20:46
and then it kind of melted back
20:48
immediately and made a gigantic mess of
20:50
the inside of the machine so it was uh
20:53
great on donuts and french toast and
20:55
everything but didn't turn out the way I
20:57
wanted the way I understand that it has
20:59
a lot to do with the bricks the the
21:01
sugar level undesired effects it's
21:04
difficult to freeze dry that stuff from
21:05
what I understand and and I kind of see
21:08
that whenever we try something like
21:09
honey or syrup or molasses you
21:12
know it's exceptionally
21:17
challenging I think the next big thing
21:19
that we're going to see is going to be
21:21
on and I hate to use the worm the term
21:23
sustainability because it's kind of
21:25
undefinable doesn't really have a
21:27
definition but everybody likes to throw
21:29
it around I think that you know freeze
21:31
drying is is has an opportunity to
21:34
really change the entire Dynamic of how
21:36
we get real food real plants real Meats
21:41
things like that because all of these
21:43
things have limitations on shelf life
21:45
and you have limitations on the costs
21:48
for logistics for shipping and for
21:50
maintaining and refrigerating and all
21:51
that stuff and I mean just think about
21:55
at at scale how much produce is thr
21:58
thrown away MH and if we knew that that
22:01
much of it was going to get thrown away
22:02
to begin with when we're producing it
22:05
what if we just freeze-dried that much
22:07
of it from each crop right off the bat
22:09
to disperse it where it needs to go I
22:11
mean that's a real game Cher for our
22:13
entire ecosystem as far as food is
22:16
concerned you know as opposed to taking
22:19
all 10 steps before it goes bad what if
22:22
there was some preemptive work being
22:24
done in front of it where they've got a
22:26
freeze drying facility right at wherever
22:29
the the the the large commercial Farms
22:32
are taking all of that produce you know
22:34
when they're getting ready to take it to
22:36
Market what if a chunk of it is shaved
22:37
off and freeze dried right away even so
22:39
myself I'm not afraid to admit you know
22:41
it's more of my ignorance that I don't
22:43
know what to do and with food excess or
22:47
with the waste you know it's like I'm
22:50
used to eating you know cucumbers sliced
22:54
or in a salad or something like that so
22:58
I don't I don't know what to do with a
23:00
freeze-dried cucumber you know and what
23:03
do you use it on that's different than
23:05
that because the reconstituting of a
23:09
cucumber it just it's going to taste
23:11
different and it's also going to kind of
23:13
like feel and look different but if we
23:15
knew how to use a recipe for
23:18
freeze-dried cucumber to be able to use
23:22
it in a different way that we know now
23:24
what that waste would look like I think
23:26
that's where I the industry headed a lot
23:29
too is like now that there's more people
23:31
doing it people are going to find more
23:33
ways to use the waste and freeze dry it
23:36
like you're saying to where it's just an
23:39
education part and that I think is just
23:42
going to take time but it's gonna I
23:44
think it could it could
23:46
become much more quicker in terms of
23:48
Education here over the next five to 10
23:50
years because so many people are doing
23:51
it yeah and it's not so much just the
23:53
education but because so many people are
23:55
doing it it's the Innovation that's the
23:56
part of it that's the most exciting
23:58
thing because now this is something that
24:00
there are so many people just screwing
24:02
around in their kitchens with this stuff
24:04
you know and somebody going to catch on
24:06
to something and and that's going to be
24:09
part of the next phase of growth for all
24:11
this it's just getting them to that
24:12
point and getting the you know getting
24:15
the awareness out there so that when
24:16
they do have that good idea the
24:18
investors are ready to come on board and
24:20
help them get it to that next step so
24:22
you know when you talk about cucumbers I
24:24
I'm not a cucumber guy but I do like
24:26
zucchini so you know you most things
24:29
zucchini goes into you don't need it to
24:31
still be sliced you can mush it up and
24:33
make zucchini bread or whatever with it
24:35
you know so it's just a matter of just
24:37
finding a different use for those
24:41
things just you know don't be afraid to
24:43
learn because there's always something
24:45
new that you can learn you know and any
24:47
anytime you get a batch that turned out
24:49
terrible and it was a a mistake you know
24:52
it was only a mistake if you didn't
24:54
learn anything from it take chances on
24:56
that stuff when you're developing your
24:57
recipe and everything so you can figure
24:59
it out and then just keep in mind the
25:01
scale is this scalable if that's what
25:04
your goal is if if your goal is just to
25:06
keep trying new things and just see what
25:07
happens and you're you're just
25:09
experimenting and you're finding joy in
25:10
that that's fine but if your goal is to
25:13
scale it be realistic about what that
25:16
looks like you know I turned out this
25:18
many bags of Skittles this week okay
25:21
what does that look like if I'm doing
25:23
50,000 pounds of Skittles in a month you
25:26
know is that feasible how do I how do I
25:28
go about this who can I contact that's
25:31
got experience with that so that's the
25:33
kind of stuff that you know we we have
25:35
so many I I hate to put it this way but
25:38
we have so many calls to action on our
25:40
website because we want to talk to
25:42
people about this and and show them this
25:44
is what our equipment does we can't tell
25:46
you how to run your business but we can
25:48
show you how this equipment can help
25:49
your business is there any industry for
25:52
freeze drying like uh websites or
25:55
magazines periodicals blogs that you
25:57
would suggest people that aren't exposed
26:00
to freeze drying as much like to follow
26:02
to kind of like learn about the industry
26:04
what's upcoming yeah you know that that
26:06
want to kind of dig in and and learn
26:08
more yeah we've got a Blog on our
26:10
website at Parker free.com that you can
26:12
sign up for on our mailing list there
26:15
and you know we periodically add new
26:17
articles there just for industry stuff
26:19
you're not going to see a lot of things
26:21
on there about you know small scale two
26:24
three pounds at a time but there's
26:26
plenty of information being they were're
26:28
always looking to see what's coming up
26:29
next who's doing what so keep an eye on
26:32
that we do put opportunities in there if
26:34
there's a conference that you know could
26:36
be beneficial we we go to a lot of
26:38
conferences and trade shows we speak at
26:40
a few different universities about this
26:42
subject so plenty of opportunities to
26:45
learn just have them go to the website
26:48
park.com and sign up for the blog I
26:50
really enjoyed talking to Matt in this
26:51
interview because I'm not quite yet at
26:54
the scale of commercial and Industrial
26:55
and if you're not don't worry about it
26:57
there's plenty of other opportunities
26:59
for us to grow a sustainable business
27:01
either on the side or full-time being
27:04
Cottage food or in the commercial side
27:06
take a look at my other videos that I'm
27:08
going to put in the video description or
27:09
they're going to be on the suggestion
27:10
side of YouTube and you can take a look
27:12
at how to freeze dry different types of
27:14
fruits and candies as well as a review
27:16
about the Harvest Right freeze dryer
27:18
which I would recommend you start with
27:19
if you're looking at getting into the
27:21
freeze drying business space now with
27:23
that being all said take a look at the
27:25
other episodes that I have on the
27:26
creative free drying series series I
27:28
really like my interview with Sweet
27:29
Potato awesome owner Josh kingon we'll
27:31
see you on those other videos cheers
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