Today, The Titan Corporation and Hawaii Pride LLC debut the nation’s first SureBeam® disinfestation facility in Hilo, Hawaii — opening the door for nutritious, tree-ripened papaya and other exotic Hawaiian fruits to begin appearing in mainland supermarkets around the nation.
For over 50 years, Hawaiian farmers have been denied ready access to the U.S. mainland fruit markets because of a federal fruit fly quarantine — the only one of its kind in the nation. Before the advent of Titan’s SureBeam technology, various other quarantine treatments — including the use of toxic chemicals, heat, or nuclear irradiation — were considered or tried. None proved to be fully acceptable since they adversely impacted the appearance and nutritional value of fruit or the environment. Titan’s SureBeam® technology is the environmentally-friendly solution to Hawaii’s farming problem.
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“The technology at Hawaii Pride’s processing facility provides Hawaii with a post-harvest quarantine disinfestation treatment that effectively rids Hawaii-grown fresh fruit of fruit flies and other plant pests,” said U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye. “This technology represents a safe alternative to previous proposals to treat fruits with nuclear irradiation.”
Hawaii Pride of Keaau, Hawaii — who is partnered with SureBeam Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Titan — is the nation’s first company to use SureBeam® technology on fruit and flowers. As a result of the relationship between SureBeam and Hawaii Pride, Titan will receive a royalty payment of 19.9 percent on profits generated by the new facility.
Similar to a microwave oven, the SureBeam® system uses ordinary electricity as its energy source to instantly eliminate the threat of fruit fly and pest infestation. The process improves the nutritional value of fruit over current heat treatments, and makes it possible to rapidly export fresh Hawaiian fruit to the mainland and other overseas markets.
Besides papaya, consumers will now be able to enjoy such delicious tropical fruits as rambutan, lychee, star fruit, longans, cherimoya, and mangosteen. These exotic and fragile fruits rarely made it to mainland supermarkets, and if they did, they lacked the nutritional benefits lost because of heat and partial cooking techniques. Fresh Hawaiian papayas are very rich in many vitamins, fiber, and carotene. Papaya, whose vitamin content increases with ripening, provides 150 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C — more than oranges or apples.
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By GlobalData“This is a win, win, win solution,” said Gene W. Ray, Titan’s Chairman, President, and CEO. “For the first time, U.S. mainland consumers will be able to enjoy the sweet pleasure of nutritious, tree-ripened Hawaiian fruit as fresh as those they can taste when they visit Hawaii. Local farmers will defeat an obstacle that has stifled them — and there is no environmental impact.”
Titan’s partnership with Hawaii Pride is the latest example of its commitment to providing consumers with the safest food. Last month, SureBeam and the Minnesota-based Huisken Meats launched the nation’s first supermarket hamburger product to be electronically pasteurized with Titan’s patented SureBeam® technology. Approved by the FDA and USDA, SureBeam® instantly eliminates in meat products the threat of harmful food-borne pathogens such as E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter and Salmonella without affecting its texture or taste.
“This is a valuable breakthrough for the American consumer and the Hawaiian farmer,” said Larry A. Oberkfell, SureBeam’s President and CEO. “We are unlocking the door to one of America’s healthiest fruit products while at the same time providing the catalyst for taking fallow Hawaiian land and putting it to work again. It clearly demonstrates that SureBeam® technology is robust, diverse, and efficient.”
Headquartered in San Diego, California, The Titan Corporation is a leading-edge technology company that creates, builds and launches technology-based businesses, offering innovative technical solutions. Titan markets the leading technology for the electronic pasteurization of food products. The company’s three other core businesses develop and deploy communications and information technology solutions and services. The Company has 7,200 employees, annualized sales of approximately $900 million and total backlog in excess of $2.0 billion.
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts, including our outlook on the future performance of our core businesses and our growth strategies, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the Company’s entry into new commercial businesses, dependence on continued funding of U.S. Department of Defense programs, government contract procurement and termination risks, risks associated with acquiring other companies, including integration risks, and other risks described in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Media Contact: Wil Williams, Vice President Corporate Communications, (858) 552-9606, (619) 301-0935, or wwilliams@titan.com. Investor Relations Contact: Rochelle Bold, Vice President Investor Relations, (858) 552-9400 or invest@titan.com.
If you would like to receive press releases via electronic mail, please contact invest@titan.com. Press Releases and other Titan information are available on The Titan Corporation’s World Wide Web site: http://www.titan.com
