To further implement the "Cross-Strait Enterprise Technological Research Funding" project of Kunshan Development Zone and support enterprises in tackling key technological needs, Shanghai Chase Industrial Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Chase) visited the School of Food Science and Technology at Jiangnan University (JNU) for an Industry-Academia-Research collaboration meeting on May 20, 2021.
With 15 years of focus on high-quality food raw material processing equipment, Shanghai Chase's product portfolio covers fruit and vegetable crushing & juicing, UHT sterilization, and aseptic filling. The company also provides complete fruit and vegetable processing production lines and solutions for clients. Specializing in the R&D and manufacturing of food processing equipment, Shanghai Chase's processed products include concentrated pulp, fruit flesh, concentrates, pure fruit juice, freeze-dried powder, jam, fruit wine enzymes, and fruit powder. Its equipment finds increasingly wide applications, ranging from fruit and vegetable processing, soymilk processing to plant extraction, traditional Chinese medicine purification, and health drink production.
Jiangnan University's School of Food Science and Technology is the earliest-established, most solidly-founded, and most comprehensive institution in its field in China. In 2007, it was selected as the only national key discipline (Level A) in the food sector. Currently, it houses 5 national-level platforms, including the State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology (the only one in the food field), the National Engineering Research Center for Functional Foods, and the International Joint Research Center for Probiotics and Gut Health (also the only one in the food field). The school has accumulated 19 national-level sci-tech awards to date. Its Food Science and Engineering discipline ranked first in three consecutive rounds of the Ministry of Education's national discipline evaluations (2009, 2012, 2017), was selected as a national "Double First-Class" construction discipline in 2017, and has retained the top spot in the ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (Food Science & Technology) in 2019 and 2020.
During the collaboration meeting, Shanghai Chase, accompanied by Director Xu from JNU's School of Food Science and Technology, visited the bio-manufacturing line at JNU's National Engineering Laboratory. During the tour, the team gained a deeper understanding of the pilot production line for beer, as well as the manufacturing lines for sterilization and fermentation equipment.
After the visit, Shanghai Chase gave a brief introduction to its food processing equipment, development plans, and technological R&D efforts. The company also elaborated on the current technical bottlenecks encountered in its production processes, such as low-temperature sterilization for fruits and vegetables (to solve flavor changes caused by high temperatures) and stratification of NFC fruit juice. Finally, in-depth discussions were held with Professor Jiang from JNU, focusing on microbial treatment of fruits and vegetables, post-processing process control, and small-scale pilot equipment for fruit and vegetable processing.