At Rougemont, we are committed to managing our residual materials and reducing our environmental impact. That’s why we favour a circular economy in producing our apple juices and minimizing food waste.
Discover the steps involved in making our apple juice and how we reuse apple pomace to decrease waste.
How apple juice is made
Harvesting
Our juices are made from apples grown in our own orchards and from other growers in Quebec’s four major apple-growing regions.
Our apple experts pick apples from the trees and select those that have fallen to the ground. Apples picked from apple trees are used in our not from concentrate juices particularly the old-fashined unfiltered juices, while apples that have fallen to the ground are used to make our clarified and filtered juices.
Washing
When they arrive at our processing plant, the apples are washed with high-pressure water to remove undesirable matter (earth, leaves) and sorted by hand to ensure that only suitable fruit is kept.
Grinding
The apples are cut into small pieces in a crusher to facilitate juice extraction. Before proceeding to the next stage, the crushed apples are macerated for a few hours.
Juice extraction
The crushed apples are sent to a press to extract the juice by pressing. We use rice hulls to create more space between the apple pieces, enabling us to extract the maximum amount of juice.
At this stage, we obtain an organic residue: apple pomace. It’s made up, among other things, of peelings, apple cores and pulp. In other words, it is what’s left of the apple after extracting the juice.
Filtration
The extracted juice then enters our ultrafiltration system, where filters with micro-holes retain the small organic particles contained in the juice.
Opalescent apple juices, like our Orchard’s Collection of old-fashioned apple juices , are not ultra-filtered.
Pasteurization
Pasteurization is a heat treatment that destroys most of the bacteria the juice may contain. It improves the juice’s shelf life without adding preservatives.
The juice is heated to a precise temperature for a short time, usually between 3 and 10 seconds, then rapidly cooled. Thanks to this lightning-fast pasteurization, contact with the heat is minimal, and the juice retains its flavour and freshness with no marked effect on its nutritional value.
Storage and bottling
Some of the juice produced is bottled immediately. The other part is stored in large temperature-controlled tanks to retain all its freshness and will be bottled later.
That’s how our tasty apple juice reaches your glass. But our apples’ journey doesn’t end there!
Valorization of apple pomace
While apple pomace is a waste product for us, it’s a valuable resource for breeders and farmers. Our apple pomace is not sent to landfill sites as part of our zero-waste approach. Instead, it is recycled to feed animals and soil.
In fact, apple pomace is used to make compost and potting mix, fertilize the soil, and incorporate it into cattle feed.
Thanks to the reuse of apple pomace, the entire fruit is used to make our juices!