< Previous30 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net DEPOSITORS AND FILLERS ranges, this equipment is also often scalable with the ability to increase the number of filling heads. Optimum efficiency and high throughput are the name of the game when it comes to automatic filling. Yet whether automatic or not, one of the biggest challenges when it comes to depositors and filling concerns viscosity. Although depositors and fillers are responsible for weighing and portioning a certain amount of product, at their simplest they direct a liquid’s flow to a target – be that a pie filling into pasty casing, yoghurt into a tub, or oil into a bottle etc. On the surface this may sound simple enough, yet things become difficult when liquids don’t easily flow – such as slurries, gels and honey. In any production circumstance, viscous and semi-viscous liquids are difficult to handle. It’s a challenge just to dispense them into packages, containers and pouches, a challenge that increases when said liquids must be dropped into open spaces such as tray cavities or be deposited either onto or into a product such as pie fillings or icing on sweet baked confectionary. As one might expect, flow is the biggest issue here. If a filling cannot be made to flow consistently into the machine, then it’s not going to fill or deposit consistently. Managing and controlling that flow is therefore paramount to ensuring consistent flow and consistent filling. Most filling machines utilise a hopper positioned overhead which uses the power of gravity to maintain flow. When the product is too viscous to flow freely from a hopper, agitation is required to start and maintain product flow. Hoppers can also be fitted with level sensors that trigger automatic replenishment and allow for uninterrupted throughput. Although downward pressure is an ideal means of agitation, it isn’t always necessary, with mixing able to do the job whilst also keeping the contents stirred and in suspension (ideal for liquids made of unmixable parts or those with © Shutterstock /Peter de Kievith 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:47 Page 3Food & Drink International 31 www.fdiforum.net DEPOSITORS AND FILLERS particulates). Yet despite these additions, many products still prove too viscous, making them difficult to flow through the machines. On a production line where downtime needs to be minimised and companies have strict deadlines and throughput demands, this simply can’t be tolerated. Pistons not only provide sufficient force to push product through the depositor or filler head but can offer precise portion control. For products like ice cream, meat slurries and those with pieces, piston depositors will provide accuracy, continual flow and portion control at a high-speed throughput. Simply put, the products to be deposited are drawn in from the hopper by the pistons in the cylinder, the piston then presses the product from the cylinder to the dispensing opening. Another advantage of this approach is that they are incredibly adaptable depending on the requirements. Although single fillers are an option, multi-head fillers and depositors are widely available – an advantage on larger production lines where different varieties of a product such as biscuits are being produced on the same production line at the same time. Moreover, bespoke options mean that a company can have a solution installed that’s designed to meet their specific needs and production requirements. As well as accuracy and speed of depositing, producers will also need to watch for dripping. Spills, drips, and container overflows may be commonplace across food filling lines, but that doesn’t mean they have to be. Indeed, there are piston fillers available on the market that promise no-drip filling. However, there’s more to consider than just the type of depositor or filler. It’s no good investing in high-end machines only to shirk on the transfer pumps. These vital pieces of equipment pump product from one receptacle into another or into a hopper of a depositing machine. As with the fillers themselves, flow is key to bear in mind here as a fully liquid product is going to much easy to pump than a viscous one. Where products containing pieces are concerned – such as vegetables in soups etc – integrity needs to be maintained, so pumps boasting low- shear, low-pulsation are preferable. Whether manual or automatic, almost every food product line contains some kind of filling or depositing machinery. With that in mind, food companies need to ensure that their machinery is up to snuff – delivering not only high throughput, but also preserving product integrity. Although they are almost universal, the needs placed on these machines will differ from company to company, so flow requirements and pumping must be taken into account. What works for a company bottling oils isn’t going to be the same as one filling pasty cases with meat slurries. 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:47 Page 4COLD STORAGE 32 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net It’s vital to ensure that products stay at the correct temperature throughout the process, and that accurate information is available across the often- extensive supply chain. Often catering to specific industries such as food and drink or pharmaceutical, cold stores are refrigerated transport are paramount to the operations of such companies. Temperature controlled storage and distribution remains one of the most powerful industries in the food and drink industry with the cold chain accounting for roughly 9% of the £187 billion of sales. With the demand for food and drink in the UK rising by 3% year on year, according to the ONS, many food retailers and supermarkets are facing difficult questions on whether they should increase the size of their temperature-controlled transport fleet, or whether they should look to invest in more temperature-controlled storage facilities closer to home. Most manufacturers in the industry – and others that involve temperature control and refrigeration - likely already have some form of careful system in place. But that doesn’t seem to stop the wastage that occurs as a result of variances in temperature. This is particularly pertinent in the food and drink industry given the perishable nature of many products. So, what has been going wrong? For many companies, problems seem to occur in the supply chain, or on distribution lines. While the product is Temperature control is paramount for many industries, but even the smallest breach can cause huge losses for companies. Cool and calculated 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:49 Page 1COLD STORAGE Food & Drink International 33 www.fdiforum.net still in the primary manufacturing facility the process is much more regulated and controlled, but it is easier to achieve that in a state-of-the-art facility where the process is mostly automated. At the hand-over point between manufacturing facility and distribution, there is obviously a point where human elements need to get involved, be it in end-of-line packaging, or materials handling. These points of transference from one part of the supply chain to another represent significant breach points in the temperature integrity of pharmaceutical products and should have particular attention attributed to them. When it comes to distribution centres which play a key role in the supply chain towards the retail market, the costs of temperature control systems can quickly scale out of control. Therefore, it’s important at all times to focus on methods of efficiently maintaining temperature levels, with as little ambient loss of temperature as possible. At the end of the day, it’s far more expensive to keep air cool, then it is to warm it up. Doors and loading bays create an immediate but necessary breach in a warehouse’s defences, allowing the cooler air inside to escape via convection currents. What’s more, this is an inescapable consequence, as the ultimate goal of these facilities is to store and ship out pharmaceutical products as quickly as possible to their final destination. As such while it might be result in energy savings to install a number of doors between the cold storage facility, and the loading bays. This only slows down the productivity of the workers within, and how soon they can have the stock shipped out. Air curtains provide a potential solution to this problem, or at the very least minimise the loss of heat at loading bays. A cold store air curtain 34 Á © Shutterstock /Baloncici 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:49 Page 234 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net COLD STORAGE works by creating a curtain of air that cuts through currents, creating a barrier between the external ambient air, and the chilled temperature within a cold store. The greatest benefit of these systems is not just the ability for the air curtain to minimise energy loss through temperature contamination, but also to allow continual access for any workers. There is no door to be opened or closed, and the curtain is safe for workers to travel through as they deliver and remove palletised goods. Not only does this improve general efficiency within the cold store, but it also enables rooms to be kept at varying temperatures – important when a facility might have to cater for a wide range of pharmaceutical products, that might require varying levels of refrigerated storage. Of course, there is more to efficiently running a temperature-controlled storage facility than plugging up the entrances. Managing stock within the distribution centre can become increasingly more complex, as the temperatures are kept lower. For instance, machinery and systems that rely on battery power can come under risk, as continued exposure to the cold has a negative impact on batteries – typically resulting in 50% degradation to battery life. This can become a larger concern with the recent move towards electric lift trucks and fork-lifts, which © Shutterstock /ChaNaWiT NewCold: sustainable development of a global deep freeze phenomenon NewCold believes that the efficient usage of natural resources together with healthy local community and employee relations are key elements which lead to outstanding financial results and business prosperity. The company has an international network with 11 locations on three continents with over 927,000 pallet positions worldwide. The company’s unique Triple Bottom Line approach embraces three distinct criteria: Planet, People and Profit. Firstly, NewCold recognise that all their facilities consume energy and use air and water for cooling purposes and so employ sustainable solutions wherever possible. Then, in regarding their people as their greatest strength and most valuable asset, NewCold encourages all employees to focus on creating customer satisfaction, to promote long term customer relationships and sustainable revenues. Thirdly, NewCold employ the simple formula whereby efficient operations combined with satisfied customers contribute to a competitive advantage, which in turn leads to commercial success. This sustainable methodology is the driving force behind the success of NewCold’s existing Wakefield site and already is providing the operational foundations for a new deep-freeze facility due to open in Corby later next year. 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:49 Page 3Food & Drink International 35 www.fdiforum.net COLD STORAGE Rotronic AwTherm Rotronic Instruments (UK) Ltd Crompton Fields, Crompton Way, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 9EE. Tel: +44 (0)1293 571000 Email: instruments@rotronic.co.uk Web: www.rotronic.co.uk Company profile: Rotronic is a global company manufacturing instruments for the precise measurement of water activity, humidity, moisture, temperature, CO2 and differential pressure. Rotronic devices are specified throughout the food and other industries. Experienced engineers can provide measurement solutions for any application. Rotronic has UKAS / ISO 17025 accreditation for Temperature, Humidity and Dew Point laboratory calibration. Product profile: Rotronic manufactures water activity analysers to determine the free moisture within food products - a good indicator of product stability and shelf life. Controlling the moisture present improves product quality. Analysers provide measurements in typically less than five minutes. The wide product range includes the AwTherm analyser with full temperature sample control; the HygroLab laboratory analyser for up to four probes, handhelds for making spot-checks and a PC-based solution which is ideal when visiting suppliers’ sites. The sensors can be calibrated to confirm performance. Full technical product information is available on the website. can see vehicles running out of juice at inopportune moments. When it comes to workers within these facilities as well, there are a host of new concerns and problems to be aware of, many of which will require some remedial training for companies moving employees to cold store facilities. In the above example of electric vehicles, staff need to be made aware that a vehicle which is marked down as having an eight-hour battery life, might struggle to manage more than four or five. Changing the labelling on these vehicles can go a long way to preventing problems, alternatively investing in batteries with larger voltages can help minimise the problems. One way that retailers are adapting to this is to better utilise what space they current have available, either through better allocation of resources, or by bringing in outside companies to design and identify ways to more effectively utilise the same space. For many however, this may not be an option. With warehouses becoming increasingly cramped, and the demands for frozen and chilled goods increasing year-on- year, the only remaining option is often to rent or invest in new warehouse facilities. Last year already showed a sharp decline in the availability of big box warehouse spaces, as more and more was being purchased or rented even during the financial crisis. Ultimately the supply chain is what causes a proportion of losses due to cold storage and distribution, and when it comes to plugging the gaps, these are possibly the areas to pay more attention to. © Shutterstock /bit mechanic 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:49 Page 436 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net SOUPS AND SAUCES Soups and sauces are staples in most cupboards and refrigerators, with demand enhanced due to COVID-19. 2020 saw soup purchases surge as consumers stockpiled during lockdowns to ensure they had their cupboard essentials, ate at home more, and sought comforting soups as a perceived nutritious and healthy choice that could help boost immune systems during the pandemic. On the contrary fresh soups were hampered in comparison to their shelved counterparts as the food to go market was hit by the switch to working from home. Moving forwards, the soup market is expected to falter, as consumers return to pre-pandemic routines and have less desire for shelf stable items like canned soup. Concurrently the future of soups with the next generation is of concern with Mintel noting that a lack of interest from the next generation of soup consumers in the US - those aged 18-24 - is one of the biggest threats to the soup market. These consumers are amongst the most likely to cut back on their soup consumption and are interested in smaller, portable packaging formats, including drinkable and snack-sized soups, in addition to those holding wellness claims and functional benefits. Sauces also witnessed a boost as a result of COVID-19, as consumers cooked at home, looked to replicate restaurant experiences, and continue to do so to save money. This can be seen with the 19.2% rise in value sales for cooking and pasta sauces in 2020, as reported by Mintel, with January lockdowns extending this growth into 2021. Like soups, sauces are too being impacted by health- concerned customers. Table sauces for example keep evolving to remove processed ingredients while cooking sauces are similarly focusing on providing more natural options that can offer the vitamins and supplements consumers need. Soups and sauces surge 38 Á After demand for soups and sauces surged last year, brands will need to innovate to maintain momentum, capitalising on health- and eco- conscious consumers as well as those with experiential palates. Soups and sauces surge 36-41.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:53 Page 1Food & Drink International 37 www.fdiforum.net SOUPS AND SAUCES © Shutterstock /Anna_Pustynnikova 36-41.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:54 Page 238 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net SOUPS AND SAUCES Fruit tank pulp level detection solved One challenging area in fruit based drink and food production is detecting the fruit production residues. This watery pulp mixture contains cellulose, skins, pips, and other solid materials. It’s usually collected in a tank ready for dewatering, recycling or digestate for AD plants. At this site, this tank occasionally overflowed and this sticky, pulpy substance spilled onto the plant floor. This happened because the switches previously used failed to function properly due to build-up. This resulted in pumps not operating properly as well as halts in production for cleaning and resetting. After overfills, cleaning up the whole area around the tank was very time-consuming and laborious. The new VEGAPOINT level switch has proven totally reliable in this difficult application area, even when deposits accumulate on the end of the probe. The small level switch version, has a Bluetooth app to set up and test the switch, a compact stainless steel housing and two electronics versions: transistor output or transistor with digital IO-Link. A special highlight is the super-bright easy to recognise status display that allows quick and easy recognition of the switching status. For more information visit www.vega.com/en-uk/products/product-catalog/switching/capacitive/vegapoint-21 Super bright LED lets operators know all is well with the process Switch with build-up of pulp still works effectively To maintain momentum and drive soup and sauce sales, innovation will be crucial, from presenting ‘better for you’, ’free from’, and organic options to capitalise on healthy eating, to meeting the sustained demand for spicy and exotic flavours from consumers with experiential palates looking for further adventure through tastebuds in a travel restricted world, which have particularly propped up the hot sauce market. These opportunities are seeing old favourites reinvented, such as Campbell’s revitalisation of its soup portfolio with Chunky Spicy Chicken Noodle, and spice and heat continue to be the foundation of new product line extensions and innovations in sauces, with manufacturers actively exploring regions where flavourful spicy foods are a prominent diet feature. BBQ sauce styles are also exploding alongside smoky flavours, those inspired by alcohol like bourbon, and sweet, fruity twists to classics. Meanwhile, mirroring its impact on the wider food industry, an increase in consumers aiming to reduce meat consumption is pushing the launch of more plant-based and vegan soups and sauces. Taking note of both the vegan and exotic trends, Baxters has launched a vegan range influenced by recipes from around the world including Mexico, Sri Lanka, and India with Butternut Squash & Lentil Dhansak, Sri Lankan Sweet Potato, and Jackfruit, Three Bean & Chipotle Chilli soup. New ranges of vegan sauces, such as mayonnaise and salad cream, are hitting shelves too as the dietary choice accelerates. Indeed in the UK alone the number of vegans is said to have doubled between January 2020 and 2021. As flavours evolve, so does soup and sauce packaging. A pivotal trend is the slow move away from metal cans - from rigid to flexible packaging - though this remains a popular option despite perceptions of its awkwardness to open in some instances, especially with “old fashioned” cans inconveniently requiring a tin opener. Improvements have been introduced to reinvigorate cans however with use of peel-off-ends over ring pull lidding. Moreover, cans have a high recycling rate, which is of significant importance to eco-conscious consumers (though their heavier weight means a heavier carbon footprint), and brands are utilising cardboard for multipacks over plastic shrink wrap to improve their environmental credentials. Heinz for example has developed a multipack cardboard sleeve which is fully recyclable, sourced from sustainably managed forests, does not use glue, and contains less material than an enclosed wraparound box. Meanwhile 36-41.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:54 Page 3Food & Drink International 39 www.fdiforum.net SOUPS AND SAUCES pouches and pots are seeing growth for soups, and carton packs, which use less fossil fuels and paperboard from renewable wood, are offering an alternative as plastic reduction becomes a must. Convenient design and sustainability are clear, key considerations for soup and sauce packaging. Recent developments have seen recyclable retort pouches created, using new mono polypropylene plastic that still provides high performance product protection but meets consumer demand for eco-friendly options, which they are willing to pay more for. Already being used for rice amongst other applications, this packaging is due to make waves in sauces and soups soon. Generally, stand up pouches are seeing increased use by brands as a 41 Á © Shutterstock /T rong Nguyen 36-41.qxp_Layout 1 26/10/2021 12:54 Page 4Next >