Expansion of freezing capacity is taking sole specialist Neerlandia Urk from 500tonnes per year to 50tonnes per week.
There are additional benefits: reduced product weight losses will pay off in six-digit figures annually, and the production area requirement is 40percent less than originally planned.
Neerlandia has been growing ever since the company was founded 28 years ago. "In 1974 our annual sales already totalled about 5 million guilders,“ recalls Managing Director Albert Romkes.
Neerlandia is also adopting new technology, in the form of two high-tech Advantec impingement freezers, from Frigoscandia Equipment. "The new plant's capacity gives us the opportunity to increase our production five- to seven-fold. With the new Advantec freezers we can process up to 50 tonnes of fillets per week and/or 20 tonnes of raw produce or 10 tonnes of fillets per day,“ Romkes notes.
But Neerlandia was cautious about taking such a big leap forward. "We really agonised over this decision,“ adds Romkes. "In fact, it took us almost a year to select the plant concept best suited to our needs. Of great importance to us were the practical tests with a number of fish varieties conducted by the team of experts from Frigoscandia Equipment here at our premises on Urk. The results were so promising that we continued the tests at Frigoscandia Equipment in Sweden.“
The Advantec freezer series incorporates impingement airflow technology, originally developed in 1995 by Frigoscandia Equipment for its Flat Product Freezer, which was designed to meet the needs of the hamburger industry. Offering all the speed and product quality of cryogenic yet at only half the cost, the initial impingement technology has already been proven in more than 200 freezer and chiller modules worldwide. Applications include hamburger patties, fish fillets and other flat products.
The much shorter freezing times in turn reduce the loss of fluid and improve the quality of frozen products. Neerlandia expects the reduced weight loss to pay off annually in 6-digit figures. Last but not least, the Advantec freezer takes up much less space than a conventional freezer, thus reducing building costs.
"We were able to reduce the originally planned production area by 40percent,“ comments Romkes.
Neerlandia will operate the Advantec freezer with an LVS FRIGoPAK ammonia refrigeration unit, also from Frigoscandia Equipment. LVS stands for Low Volume System, reflecting the fact that the unit requires only 50percent of the ammonia quantity used in conventional units.
For more information, visit www.frigoscandia.com
