Meat, poultry, seafood, and pet food processors will get hands-on access to high pressure processing technology on September 17 when Hiperbaric and Oklahoma State University's Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center (FAPC) host a full-day HPP Protein Workshop in Stillwater. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln joins as a co-presenting institution. Registration is open to approximately 50 attendees at $30 per person.

The Technology Case

HPP applies cold-water pressure—up to 87,000 psi—to packaged food without heat or added preservatives, inactivating pathogens and spoilage organisms while preserving clean-label profiles. For protein processors, the technology addresses three distinct operational needs: pathogen control for ready-to-eat compliance, extended refrigerated shelf life, and value recovery from quality-challenged raw material. The workshop is structured around eight technical sessions designed to answer whether HPP is safe, effective, and financially justifiable at plant scale.

Researchers from OSU and Nebraska-Lincoln will present on controlling Listeria monocytogenes in RTE operations—an ongoing compliance pressure point for protein processors—and on HPP as a recovery path for dark-cutting beef, a quality defect that routes otherwise sound product into lower-value channels. The session will include an economic analysis of what that defect costs the industry. Other sessions cover packaging requirements for HPP systems, raw pet food safety, clean-label antimicrobial synergy, and a practical guide to working with a tolling partner, led by Universal Pure's vice president of food safety and quality. GoodHeart Brand Specialty Foods will present a real-world case study on scaling clean-label RTE meats through HPP at national retail.

Oklahoma's First HPP System

The workshop will also formally inaugurate FAPC's Hiperbaric 55, the first HPP system installed in Oklahoma and part of a $7 million modernization initiative at the center. A live equipment demonstration, led by OSU's HPP Food Technology Program Manager Shade Hughes, will run alongside a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"Most of the new protein work in HPP is coming out of university labs, and it usually takes years to reach the plant floor," said Rob Peregrina, Director of Hiperbaric USA. "OSU is putting both the research and a running system under pressure in front of processors, on the same day."

Dr. Roy Escoubas, Director of the Robert M. Kerr FAPC, emphasized that the investment's value is practical: "This workshop gives protein processors in Oklahoma and well beyond a firsthand look at HPP technology, along with ongoing access to the expertise and research needed to evaluate what it can do for their products."

The Stillwater event is the second stop of Hiperbaric's Global Roadshow, a traveling technical series that launched in June at the company's HPP Customer Day in Burgos, Spain, drawing more than 60 representatives from 35 companies across 14 countries. For operators tracking food safety technology in protein processing or evaluating clean-label formulation strategies, the Stillwater workshop offers direct access to the researchers and processors currently driving adoption. The $30 registration fee covers the full program, morning coffee, lunch, a closing reception, and all workshop materials.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.