Increased demand for 'contactless processing' in the food industry

Exceptional circumstances have given us a deeper understanding of how food should be handled. OctoFrost founder Ruben Larsson said they can now offer a complete product line to meet this demand: "Since the outbreak of the special situation, we have seen an increase in the demand for 'hands-free' operation of food products. We can meet the needs of customers for safe food handling, from the single quick-freezing link at the source of the packaging until the food is brought to the table. "In order to meet the growing demand, OctoFrost has designed and supplied many complete product lines and is the only supplier to offer this business.”

OctoFrost tries to make its processing line as widely applicable as possible without requiring a lot of labor: "With our OctoFrost single quick-frozen universal vegetable line, almost any product can be added randomly to the line and gently dispersed with a shaker or sink; and with a tumbler for leafy green products such as spinach. The complete line designed and supplied by OctoFrost requires only 2 to 3 operators, saving labor and costs. ” explained Larsson.

"In OctoFrost Blancher, vegetables can be boiled completely with water at 73 to 85C, boiled thoroughly with steam, or quickly boiled with hot water to kill surface bacteria. Cool immediately after heat treatment to preserve the product's natural texture and color. ”

One problem with frozen vegetables is that they need to be separated when they have a high water content, Larsson said. "Vegetables often have high water content and can stick together during freezing. However, the OctoFrost freezer's unique bed configuration and easy-to-control freezing process ensure product separation well while maintaining a natural appearance."

Larsson noted that OctoFrost also offers processing solutions for delicate vegetables like spinach and asparagus, which require gentle handling. "The OctoFrost single quick-frozen spinach production line consists of OctoFrost IF heat bleacher, IF cooler, rotary tumbler, and single quick-freezing freezer. After the cooling stage, the vegetables are dehydrated, and OctoFrost offers a rotary tumbler to achieve a good product separation.

The OctoFrost individual quick-frozen asparagus line is completely horizontal, which means that all conveyor belts are at the same level, so the asparagus need only remain stationary during processing. This means that even the slender asparagus won't be damaged because they won't fall off when transported through the freezer. "

Increased demand for 'contactless processing' in the food industry PDF