MENLO PARK, Calif., May 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Landec Corporation (NASDAQ:LNDC), a leading developer and marketer of innovative and proprietary products for healthy living applications in the food and biomedical markets, announces that Juicero, Inc., introducer of the first at-home countertop cold-press juicing system, is using BreatheWay® in produce packs that deliver fresh-cut fruits and vegetables to Juicero customers.
Juicero, which will begin shipping to customers in summer 2016, is a countertop cold-press juicing system consisting of a press, organic produce packs and an app for fresh juice in the moment. Juicero’s produce packs contain 100% raw, living, chopped fruits and vegetables that breathe in packs until the moment they are pressed. Landec’s BreatheWay technology is applied to each pack. The pack is placed in the Juicero Press and with the push of a single button the fresh cold-pressed organic juice fills an 8-ounce glass in about two minutes.
In the U.S., consumers are striving to eat healthier. Even so, over 90% of Americans today fail to consume the recommended five cups of fruit and vegetable servings per day, and one of the primary reasons people don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables is that they see it as inconvenient. As a result, the 2015-2020 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that at least 50 percent of fruit and vegetable intake should come from whole produce, leaving the other 50 percent to come from innovative, nutrient-dense forms like 100 percent raw juices with no added sugars.
Doug Evans, CEO and founder of Juicero, commented, “The Juicero system eliminates the inconvenience of traditional in-home fruit and vegetable juicing, which includes time buying, washing, trimming and chopping produce along with time-consuming assembly and clean-up. Our partnership with Landec is crucial to our mission to deliver only the freshest fruits and vegetables to Juicero customers.”
Steve Bitler, Landec VP of Corporate Technology, said, “We are very pleased to work with Juicero providing our BreatheWay membrane technology for their fruit and vegetable packs as the enabling technology for Juicero’s unique and innovative Juicero Cold-Press Juicing System. The BreatheWay membrane, using Landec’s patented technology, provides an adjustable gateway for airflow and controls the ratio of oxygen and carbon dioxide inside the package. Our technology works in conjunction with the respiration rate of the specific fresh produce and compensates for changing temperature conditions during different stages of distribution, extending the shelf-life of fresh-cut produce.”
Juicero joins other Landec existing and on-going commercial application partners using the BreatheWay technology, including:
- Chiquita Brands International, Inc. for its Chiquita-To-Go® banana program whose major customer is Starbucks.
- Windset Farms® for its Fresco® cocktail cucumbers and select peppers.
- TransFresh Corporation in combination with the TransFresh Tectrol Storage Solution for fresh blueberries and other berries with its innovative zip-sealed pallet system increasing the shelf-life of blueberries over 28 days.
Landec’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Apio, Inc., is the largest supplier of branded, packaged fresh vegetables to retail and club stores throughout North America. Apio’s Eat Smart® vegetables and salad kits (www.eatsmart.net) leverage the BreatheWay technology on over 100 million packages every year to deliver high quality vegetables that last longer for the consumer, making it more convenient for consumers to enjoy fresh vegetables in the home.
Landec President and CEO, Molly Hemmeter, added, “Landec and Apio continue to advance Eat Smart products and BreatheWay technology to make it easy and delicious for consumers to eat healthy. We work closely with our culinary teams to deliver fresh vegetable products with unique and on-trend flavor profiles. Our scientists and engineers deliver innovative packaging solutions that offer convenience and high quality fresh produce. In addition, we partner with other companies selling fruit and vegetable products that benefit from the BreatheWay technology. Through our new partnership with Juicero, Landec enables consumers to enjoy fresh, cold-press juices in the convenience of their own home, making it easy for consumers to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.”
About Juicero, Inc.
Juicero is on a mission to invent products, services and experiences to help people consume the fresh foods that will manifest true health and longevity. With the introduction of the world’s first at-home cold-press juicing system — The Juicero Press, Packs and connected Juicero App — Juicero has reinvented the “farm-to-glass” supply chain to bring 100 percent raw, fresh, organic produce directly to consumers’ homes and make it easier to drink homemade, healthy juice every day. Juicero was founded by former Organic Avenue CEO and plant-based nutrition advocate Doug Evans in 2013 and brings together leading experts across food science, organic farming, consumer marketing, product design and technology. For more information about the company, visit Juicero’s website at www.juicero.com.
About Landec Corporation
Landec Corporation is a company that leverages its proprietary polymer technologies, application development and innovation capabilities to develop and commercialize new products in food and biomaterials markets. Landec’s subsidiary, Apio, has become the leader in U.S. fresh-cut specialty packaged vegetables sold in North America based on combining Landec’s BreatheWay proprietary food packaging technology with the capabilities of large scale processing and national distribution. Lifecore Biomedical, a subsidiary of Landec, is a premium supplier of hyaluronan-based materials and medical products to ophthalmic, orthopedic and veterinary markets worldwide. In addition, Lifecore Biomedical provides specialized aseptic fill and finish services in a cGMP (current good manufacturing practices) validated manufacturing facility for supplying commercial, clinical and pre-clinical products. Landec will also periodically work with market-leading companies to develop and commercialize differentiated polymer-based products under R&D and royalty agreements. For more information about the company, visit Landec’s website at www.landec.com.
Important Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including such factors among others, as the timing and expenses associated with operations, the ability to achieve acceptance of the Company's new products in the market place, weather conditions that can affect the supply and price of produce, the amount and timing of research and development funding and license fees from the Company's collaborative partners, the timing of regulatory approvals, the mix between domestic and international sales, and the risk factors listed in the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2015 (See item 1A: Risk Factors) which may be updated in Part II, Item 1A Risk Factors in the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. As a result of these and other factors, the Company expects to continue to experience significant fluctuations in quarterly operating results and there can be no assurance that the Company will remain consistently profitable. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new developments or otherwise.