How to preserve a spread in a jar I am starting a business making a vegan chocolate spread. It is beginning as a small, family run operation, in a hired industrial kitchen.
We are stuck on how to 'treat' the spread when getting to the canning process (in glass jars) so that it will be as shelf stable as possible.
So far, our research has pointed us toward simmering the sealed jars in boiling water for 10-15 mins. (the jars are also sterilized beforehand).
Would this be sufficient? Does this suck the oxygen out? How do large manufacturers approach this process for similar products?
If you're working with something acidic like a jam, you can indeed process the jars in hot water. This is sufficient to kill any pathogens that got sealed in with the product and can thrive in an acidic, high-sugar environment like jam. Since the water bath also seals the jar, nothing can enter the sealed jars, the jam is now shelf-stable. In your case, the spread is unlikely to be acidic enough that water bath canning is sufficient to preserve it.
You should look into pressure canning instead. You would need a pressure cooker for this, which will let you process the jars at a higher temperature than a water bath allows. There's also some concern around the fat in your spread (I assume it's based on something like coconut oil?). Fat can interfere with the seal and prevent the jars from sealing properly, and it can also go rancid even if the jars sealed correctly.
You would need to reach out to the food safety agency in your country to see what requirements they have on similar products, and likely have a food safety lab test your sealed product to determine that it's safe for as long as whatever your best-before date says.