Worker in protective clothing handling meat packages beside a yellow HPP carrier and stainless-steel conveyor.

High Pressure Processing (HPP) and Premium Product Co-Manufacturing Under One Roof

At American Pasteurization Company (APC), we combine premium food manufacturing, high-pressure pasteurizing (HPP), post-process packaging, and cold-chain coordination to help brands deliver safer, fresher, longer-lasting food and beverages.

Talk to Our HPP Experts

Customers work with APC from concept to shelf or send products manufactured elsewhere for HPP tolling and post-HPP pack-off and logistics support.

Assorted colorful sauces and purees in bowls with herbs and vegetables.Product Development & Innovation CenterVisit the Innovation Center →Blue-gloved worker inspecting varied tomatoes on an industrial roller conveyor.Premium Product ManufacturingExplore our manufacturing capabilities →Layers of unlabeled orange, deep-red, and green juice bottles with white caps fill scuffed off-white processing baskets.High-Pressure Processing & HPP TollingLearn more about HPP tolling →Green spouted pouches with white screw caps lined up on a conveyor between metal packaging machinery.Post-HPP Packaging, Assembly & LogisticsSee our full service suite →

From Development to Distribution

APC brings these capabilities together in a single operation, reducing the handoffs that typically separate production, pasteurization, packaging, and distribution. On-site product manufacturing, HPP, and logistics coordination help brands produce, process, and pack faster while minimizing the cold-chain risk inherent in moving product through different facilities.

Whole oranges moving from wash water onto a tiered stainless-steel processing conveyor.
Unbranded squeeze pouches with yellow caps moving through automated food production equipment
With HPP systems alongside our manufacturing lines, products can be pasteurized within hours of production. Keeping these steps together reduces handling, transportation, and cold storage expenses and protects refrigerated shelf life.

Product Development & Innovation Center

APC’s Innovation Center lets brands test formulation, HPP suitability, packaging compatibility, sensory quality, and refrigerated shelf-life targets before committing to full commercial production. The Milwaukee test kitchen is co-located with operating HPP systems, allowing development work to connect directly to the process that products will encounter at scale.

Teams can prepare samples, run them through HPP, and assess results in a single working session.

We put packaging and labels through full pressure cycles to confirm they hold up without seal failure, water ingress, material breakdown, or unacceptable visual change.

Out-of-focus commercial kitchen with stainless steel counters, cooking stations, and an overhead exhaust hood, in a cool blue tone.
Culinary professionals discussing recipe trials around a worktable with food ingredients and mixing bowls in a commercial test kitchen.

Development support includes:

  • Pilot production runs to establish pressure levels and hold times
  • Clean-label formulation and reformulation with R&D experts
  • Review of regulatory requirements before launch
  • Refrigerated shelf-life study planning and laboratory referrals

Visit the Innovation Center

Green and golden pears of varied sizes moving through wash water on a tiered processing conveyor.

Premium Product Manufacturing

APC produces refrigerated, clean-label, ready-to-eat, specialty, and premium food products in facilities built around HPP.

Each manufacturing program accounts for the formulation, package format, regulatory requirements, production volume, and intended HPP parameters.

  • Flexible batch sizes and high-volume capacity
  • A range of packaging formats for fresh and ready-to-eat products
  • Clean-label ingredient handling to meet consumer and retailer demand for minimally processed products

Explore our manufacturing capabilities

High-Pressure Processing & HPP Tolling

High-pressure processing uses extreme water pressure to deactivate target pathogens in products that have already been sealed in their packaging. For suitable products, it enhances food safety and extends refrigerated shelf life from days to weeks or months without high heat or synthetic preservatives.

5-log (99.999%) reduction in target pathogens under validated processing conditions
  • Preservation of taste, texture, color, and nutritional quality
  • Support for clean ingredient labels
  • Reduced spoilage and food waste associated with short refrigerated shelf life
Sealed food packages loaded in blue perforated carriers on a stainless steel processing line

Customers manufacturing elsewhere can send their packaged products to APC for HPP at a simple per-pound price, rather than buying equipment, building infrastructure, and staffing specialized technical operations.

APC manages the equipment, staffing, and maintenance of the HPP systems. Capital that would have gone into an HPP installation remains available for marketing, ingredients, inventory, product development, and other business priorities.

Learn more about HPP tolling

Open cardboard carton beside an automated packing conveyor in a food manufacturing facility.

Post-HPP Packaging, Assembly & Logistics

After HPP, we prepare products for retail or foodservice distribution before they leave our facilities.

  • Inkjet date coding, barcode application, package inspection, and metal detection
  • Labeling, sleeving, lidding, and tamper-band application
  • Cartoning, box erection, palletizing, and pack-off
  • Export documentation and compliance support
  • Cold-chain and logistics coordination

We tailor assembly and pack-off services to meet each project’s requirements. Our team works with customers’ logistics providers to facilitate fast outbound shipments and keep the cold chain intact through distribution.

See our full service suite

Food Quality & Safety

APC’s food safety and QA programs follow the product through each stage of manufacturing and HPP processing.

SQF-certified operations
USDA Organic certification for applicable product categories
In-house QA and food safety team
HACCP, validation, food safety documentation, and laboratory support

Read about our safety protocols

Laboratory technician in black gloves comparing a pH test strip with a color chart beside testing equipment.

Built on Over Two Decades of Experience

APC began in Milwaukee in 2004 with a single HPP system and a mission to use high-pressure processing to help food and beverage brands make products that are safe, fresh, and less dependent on high heat or synthetic preservatives. Since then, APC has expanded from commercial HPP tolling into the broader integrated model it operates today.

APC is the only U.S. provider offering manufacturing, HPP, and post-process packaging services together under one roof. We’ve processed thousands of SKUs for brands across North America and are a founding member of the Cold Pressure Council.

Long-tenured team members bring practical experience in formulation, packaging, validation, scheduling, and production.

Read APC’s story

Who We Work With

Our customers include brands at different stages of product development and growth:

  • Founders and emerging brands preparing a first refrigerated product or initial commercial run
  • Established food and beverage companies increasing volume, entering new channels, or consolidating manufacturing and HPP providers
  • Product-development and R&D teams testing new formulations, packaging, and refrigerated shelf-life targets for HPP
  • Brands reformulating for clean ingredient labels or reducing synthetic preservatives
  • Companies addressing food safety, validation, or recall-risk concerns requiring documented HPP processes and stronger production controls
Worker in a pink smock and black gloves handling film-sealed cups of hummus with white-and-green labels on a conveyor.

Facilities & Locations

Our Midwest and West Coast facilities support regional and national distribution.

Corporate Office & Innovation Center

2675 N. Mayfair Rd., Suite 680
Milwaukee, WI 53226

Milwaukee Plant

2880 North 112th Street, Building E
Milwaukee, WI 53222

Sacramento Plant

2335 Del Monte Street
West Sacramento, CA 95691

Launch or Scale Your Next Product

For customers considering HPP for the first time, validating a new product, reformulating for a clean ingredient label, or scaling production, our team provides guidance on product requirements and the path to market.

Request a QuoteTalk to Our HPP ExpertsExplore the Innovation Center