Since moving to Brantford in early 2023, Priya Dass has been planning to grow the Fresh’N Fast brand while utilizing a technology to better preserve packaged food, invented and patented by he and his wife, Navnita.
Dass, who originally opened up a restaurant chain in Michigan in 2009 which quickly spread to Ohio with a franchisee, realized there was no technology which could truly keep many of his sauces and foods fresher for a longer period of time without losing vital nutrients and favours.
“I started looking for a technology that could help me and came across HPP, which stands for High Pressure Processing, or High-Pressure Pasteurization…it then took us around five years to come up with an advanced version of it called TAPS (turmeric assisted pressure sterilization). It’s such a unique technology because it keeps packaged food fresh for a longer period [while] keeping its original taste, texture and nutrients,” he said.
This technology would be used for a new packaged Indian food line called Curry Fresh launched in 2016 andeventually for Fresh’N Fast; both brands Dass co-founded. Nevertheless, after living in Michigan for 16 years, the Dass family started to make plans in re-establishing their base of business, eventually picking Brantford.
“I remember going to Hamilton, and being aware that Brantford, the Telephone City, was nearby. Alexander Graham Bell, the great inventor, hails from Brantford, and myself being an electronics engineer, this area really resonated with me. Also, I first read about Mr. Bell when I was 18 years old when I was going to college in India and I was always fascinated by him. So, that’s a big reason I chose to settle here,” he said. “When moving here, Brantford was [situated] very close to the Michigan and New York markets, which we had ties to and also being close to Toronto benefits the growth of the company.”
While Brantford is a strategic business base for Fresh’N Fast, its current manufacturing centre for Canadian operations is in Quebec.
“Our technology needs a High-Pressure Processing machine and there are only two in Canada…there’s one in British Columbia and the other one is in Quebec. We decided on Quebec and we have two companies helping us there. Le Perco, does the cooking and packaging for our foods which is out of Henryville, Quebec and Natural HPP in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec takes care of the High-Pressure Pasteurization, “he noted. “We are talking to some companies that have HPP machines and also looking at securing our next manufacturing centre…it would be preferable if it was in the GTA, because our whole team is based there. But, by next year, we will need two to three [additional] manufacturing centers.”
Boosted with a sizable grant, Priya, who holds the patent for this technology along with his wife, looks to get people thinking about other ways to enjoy better packaged food.
“We got an award from the National Science Foundation in the United States, which is the world’s largest research organization. They gave us a $300,000 grant to perfect this technology while helping us expand our supply chain. We are in a very good place right now, and our partners are very happy that we brought this technology to Canada…we are talking to many people here across various grocery stores,” he stated. “We want to get our food products into more places here in Canada and throughout North America…currently, 70% food people are consuming ultra processed foods in the United States and this technology will give consumers a chance to experience fresher and healthier food options.”
However, expansion for Priya, is the major focus when it comes to growing the brand in Canada, as well as internationally across multiple brands.
“We initially launched our product in Toronto, but locally, we have been offering our products at Lynden Park Mall along with three stores in the London area and are looking to go into independent stores in Hamilton, Cambridge, and Milton…. currently, in the US market, we are now in 150 stores. By the end of 2025, we want to be in 1,000 stores,” he said. “Our immediate goal for 2025 and 2026 is to expand our footprint in Canada and US with our Indian food products. Another goal is that we want to go beyond Indian food, including Korean and Japanese foods and even beverages utilizing TAPS technology. For 2027, our target is to get to Europe and then eventually Asia.”
