TOP b.v.

TOP b.v. is a Dutch food technology company based in Wageningen, the Netherlands, specialised in practical innovation for the food industry. Operating under the tagline Practical Food Innovation, the company acts as a technical development partner for food producers and equipment manufacturers, translating research-stage technologies into industrially applicable processes and products. TOP was founded around 2005–2006 as a spin-off from Wageningen University & Research (WUR), drawing on the applied food technology expertise developed at ATO-DLO (Agrotechnological Research Institute), and is located in Wageningen’s Agro Business Park — the centre of the Netherlands’ Food Valley cluster.

Company profile

History and background

TOP b.v. was founded by four co-founders with backgrounds in applied food science and engineering:

• Wouter de Heij (M.Sc. Chemical Engineering, TU Delft) — co-founder; previously researcher at ATO-DLO (from 1998), specialised in minimal food processing. CEO until 2024; no longer involved with TOP b.v. since 2024.
• Bert Tournois — former CEO at ATO
• Frank Giezen
  Herman Feil

The company was established to bridge the gap between the research environment of Wageningen UR and practical industrial application. Founders identified a structural gap: academic food research regularly produced technologies with industrial potential that were not reaching the market due to the distance between university laboratories and food production conditions. TOP’s model focuses on compact, low-bureaucracy R&D projects with short lead times.

The company is part of the broader Food Valley ecosystem in Wageningen, which encompasses more than 230 organisations including multinationals such as FrieslandCampina and Unilever, and is geographically and institutionally connected to Wageningen University & Research.

Services

TOP operates as a development partner across four areas:

Food product development: New Product Development (NPD), recipe reformulation, scale-up to industrial production, value engineering, and shelf-life extension. Product categories include hybrid and plant-based alternatives, meat and fish products, dairy, bakery goods, functional drinks, and convenience fruits and vegetables.

Feasibility scanning: Assessment of product stability, quality, and safety at small and industrial scale; evaluation of ingredient availability and clean-label potential for reformulation projects.

Ingredient functionality: Screening, benchmarking, performance testing, and waste valorisation of food ingredients.

Process development: Design of new process equipment and production lines, technology scale-up, factory and pilot plant design, and efficiency optimisation. Services include pilot retort testing with Tetra Pak Recart® systems and cans, texture analysis, and water activity measurement.

Innovations

Pluckr — automated destemming system

The Pluckr is a machine that mechanically separates soft fruits from their stems without damaging the fruit — the first automated system to achieve this for grapes, berries, and cherry tomatoes at commercial scale. It was developed by TOP b.v. in partnership with foodlife/JFPT (later integrated into FMI Group following a 2018 merger), who handle manufacturing.

Technology: The Pluckr combines two mechanisms: treatment with a patented enzyme mixture that weakens the connection between stem and fruit, followed by mechanical vibration at a controlled frequency that causes the fruit to separate cleanly from the stem. The system complies with EHEDG hygiene standards and is constructed in stainless steel.

Models and throughput:

For comparison, manual destemming yields approximately 15–20 kg per person per hour; the Pluckr increases throughput by approximately 40 times for the largest model. Users report approximately 40% productivity gains in practice.

Markets: Wine grape production, fresh and processed berry supply chains, cherry tomato processing.

Recognition: The Pluckr won the Food Valley Award 2014, with the jury citing “the combination of innovations in the machine and considerable market potential.” The system was also exhibited at Fruit Logistica.

Commercialisation of the Pluckr is handled by Like Fresh, a sister company established to bring TOP’s machinery innovations to market, combining food industry sales expertise with TOP’s technical development.

PurePulse — pulsed electric field (PEF) pasteurisation

PurePulse is TOP’s implementation of pulsed electric field (PEF) technology for cold pasteurisation of liquid foods. PEF applies short, intense electrical pulses to inactivate vegetative microorganisms through electroporation — disruption of bacterial cell membranes — at temperatures significantly below conventional pasteurisation, preserving heat-sensitive vitamins, aroma compounds, and fresh flavour.

TOP developed and piloted PurePulse as part of its mild preservation technology portfolio. In orange juice applications, PurePulse achieved a refrigerated shelf life of approximately three weeks while maintaining fresh-squeezed sensory characteristics — a result not achievable with thermal pasteurisation at equivalent safety levels.

RF heating — radio frequency processing

TOP has expertise in radio frequency (RF) heating for food processing, in both inline (continuous flow, pumpable products) and in-pack (sealed packages) configurations. RF heating achieves volumetric heating — the food heats simultaneously throughout its cross-section rather than from the surface inward — applying less total thermal load than conventional retort sterilisation at 121°C. This reduces cooking artefacts and better preserves vitamins, colour, and texture in heat-processed products.

TOP applies RF heating expertise in process development projects for clients seeking shelf-life extension without the quality penalty of conventional retort processing.

HPP / Pascalisation

TOP works with high pressure processing (HPP) — also called pascalisation — as part of its minimal processing toolkit. HPP applies isostatic pressure of 400–600 MPa to packaged food products, inactivating vegetative pathogens while preserving covalent bonds and therefore vitamins, flavours, and colour. TOP applies HPP in feasibility and scale-up projects for clients developing cold-pressed juices, ready-to-eat products, and chilled prepared foods.

PATS — pressure-assisted thermal sterilisation

Beyond standard HPP, TOP works with pressure-assisted thermal sterilisation (PATS), which combines elevated pressure with moderate pre-heating. Starting at approximately 85°C, adiabatic compression at high pressure raises the product temperature to approximately 118°C — achieving sterilisation temperatures sufficient to inactivate Clostridium botulinum spores — while the combination of pressure and heat acts synergistically so that the thermal exposure required is shorter and less damaging to product quality than conventional retort sterilisation at 121°C for extended hold times.

PATS enables shelf-stable products — including low-acid foods — to be produced with a gentler thermal profile than traditional retort processing, opening new possibilities for ambient product quality.

AMAP — advanced modified atmosphere packaging

TOP applies modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) — described as AMAP in TOP’s portfolio — for shelf-life extension of fresh and minimally processed foods. MAP replaces the air in a sealed package with a tailored gas mixture of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen to suppress microbial growth and oxidation.

Phytonext — botanical extraction technology

Phytonext is a botanical extraction technology developed at TOP b.v., applying a proprietary one-step extraction process to isolate bioactive compounds from plant material. The technology produces standardised botanical extracts including CBD, THC, lycopene, beta-carotene, and curcumin, for application in health, wellness, functional beverages, and pharmaceutical-grade products.

Phytonext has generated multiple product lines: Submicron (nano-scale botanical dispersions), Phytocine, and Botanical Extracts, as well as a medical cannabis spin-off, Becanex. Becanex commercialises plant-identical cannabis extracts (PIEX — Plant-Identical Extracts) for therapeutic use by doctors and patients, preserving the natural cannabinoid and terpene ratios of the source flower. Becanex PIEX products include 70% THC concentrates and 62% CBD concentrates with full Certificate of Analysis documentation including minor cannabinoids and five dominant terpenes per batch.

Phytonext operates from the Netherlands and has been active for nearly a decade.

Cold Press and Compact Food Dryer

Additional innovations developed at TOP’s food lab include:

• Cold Press: a mild juice and liquid extraction technology designed to preserve heat-sensitive quality attributes
• Compact Food Dryer: an industrial drying system designed for food ingredient and product applications

Both were developed as part of TOP’s pilot equipment portfolio and are commercialised via Like Fresh.

Hygienisator

The Hygienisator is a hygiene and sanitation technology developed within TOP’s food lab, targeting microbial decontamination without conventional thermal or chemical approaches. Technical details are not publicly specified.

Research and development focus

TOP’s current R&D priorities, as stated on its website, include:

• Protein transition: formulation of plant-based and hybrid (plant-animal) food products
• Dietary fibre enrichment of processed food products
• Food waste and co-stream valorisation (bio-cascading)
• Mild preservation technologies (PEF, RF, HPP, PATS, AMAP)
• Novel extraction methods for food ingredients from plant and waste streams
• All-natural reformulation and clean-label development

Ecosystem and partnerships

TOP operates at the centre of Wageningen’s Food Valley cluster. The company is a preferred innovation partner of BOX (Blue Ocean Xlerator), a private incubator and investment vehicle for sustainable technology start-ups. TOP also collaborates with Holland Food Ventures, a business catalyst active in the Dutch agrifood sector.

Manufacturing and commercialisation of TOP’s machinery innovations are handled through Like Fresh and partnerships with equipment manufacturers in the FMI Group (formerly foodlife/JFPT). Innovation projects frequently involve connections to Wageningen University & Research research groups, continuing the company’s institutional origins at ATO-DLO.