April 24, 2016
Press Release – For Immediate Release

Groundbreaking is May 7 at 9:30am at 3030 Lower Mill Dr., Hood River, Oregon.

Know Your Fruit will be breaking-ground on its Puff FactoryTM, an innovative freeze-dried fruit manufacturing facility, as part of its vision to bring community-building, single-origin food manufacturing to Hood River, OR.

When the 29,500 sq. ft. facility is complete, its Puff FactoryTM will enable Know Your Fruit to deliver on its brand’s mission – providing jobs for area residents; creating greater opportunities for area growers’ products; and, most importantly, producing great-tasting snacks that showcase the quality of food being grown locally in the Pacific Northwest region.

With an innovative, freeze-drying process pioneered in partnership with the Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, the Puff FactoryTM will enable Know Your Fruit to create freeze-dried fruit products that lock in the great taste of its single-origin, fresh fruit without sacrificing nutritional value.

The Puff FactoryTM will be built in area referred to as the Lower Hanel Mill Property, an industrial area currently under development by the Port of Hood River. When fully operational, Know Your Fruit will employee approximately 30-40 people from the local area.

The innovative freeze-dried processing technology will result in an annual GHG emissions reduction of 185 metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions (a 62.5% GHG reduction), in comparison to the conventional individually quick frozen (IQF) technology currently in use in the fruit processing industry.

About Know Your Fruit: Know Your Fruit is a single-origin, freeze-dried fruit snack brand. Based in Hood River, OR, Know Your Fruit uses only the freshest, locally-grown fruit to make its super delicious, single-origin freeze-dried fruit puffs. Know Your Fruit is NOT another fruit snack, it is 100% real fruit you can snack on.