A factory for many needs

The production and product development facilities in the Roves industrial area in Seinäjoki offer an effective growth platform for the development and manufacture of food products. There are various different process facilities at the factory and versatile equipment for food industry needs. The customisable production facilities allow for manufacture for store shelves or testing consumer interest towards the product without investing in your own production equipment.

Small and industry-scale equipment can be found at the facilities, and there are product lines for all kinds of food product manufacturing and testing, with options for packaging as well. All facilities and product lines are customisable. Since the machinery is mainly on wheels, it can be transported from one facility to another. Product manufacturing and packaging can be piloted on a smaller production scale.

Hygiene and allergens have been taken into consideration already in the design stage of the facilities. All process facilities are physically isolated from one another. This way, allergen use can be contained to a specific area in the facilities. We also have ATEX-approved facilities and the permissions required for the manufacture of products containing alcohol. It is also possible to manufacture organic products in our facilities.

 

Different packaging options include boxes, bags, cups, glass bottles, plastic bottles and cans of different shapes and sizes, for instance.

Foodwest factory equipment and processes:

Automatic bottling lines

 

A variety of liquid food products, such as juices, smoothies, sauces, soups and food supplements can also be manufactured in our production facilities by mixing raw materials and heat-treatment. The tanks equipped with industrial-scale stirrers can hold a few thousand litres and enable us to manufacture reconstituted products, which means that the components can be added directly to the liquid by stirring with a reconstitution pipe. The product can be pasteurised to ensure a long shelf life, using our continuously operable pasteurisation equipment, and cooled before dispensing if necessary.

 

On the liquid dispenser line, the product is automatically dispensed into four bottles simultaneously. The liquid processors have been designed to accommodate a large variety of packaging options for bottles of different types and sizes. Some of the caps are closed using automated corking equipment and some are tightened using hand-operated equipment. All facilities and product lines are customisable and flexible.

Carbonation and backpressure dispenser

 

The Troxler carbonation equipment is an automatic carbonation machine for industrial production, which can be used to manufacture a variety of soft drinks, flavoured water products and alcoholic beverages. A backpressure dispenser is used to dispense carbonated beverages, to ensure that the amount of liquid dispensed stays consistent, along with the level of carbonation.

Sleeve labelling

 

The benefit of using shrink-sleeve labelling for bottles and packaging is that the products are visually appealing and have a large printable area. The products look appealing and their packaging can contain a lot of information. It is especially quick to use sleeve labelling for small batches, allowing you to try out how the sleeve labels work for your products and what they look like, without having to produce large quantities straight away. Our partner in sleeve labelling is Auraprint Oy.

Stirrers

 

Silversson stirrers can be equipped with cutting, emulsifying or homogenising stirrer heads, depending on the product. Different liquid mixtures, fat-water mixtures and hydrocolloids that need strong stirring are mixed efficiently and quickly. With a tabletop Silversson stirrer, it is possible to produce small sample batches, and when the right recipe is found, it is possible to ensure that the product works by producing batches of a few hundred kilograms using an industrial-scale stirrer.

Thermomix       

 

Using Thermomix stirring pots that hold a few litres, it is possible to test the effects of temperature and stirring speed on the product’s qualities in small batches first, before moving on to industrial scale manufacture. Using heat-regulated Thermomix equipment, it is possible to test enzyme hydrolysis of milk to remove lactose.

Homogenisers            

                   

Homogenisation is a process in which liquid raw material is driven through nozzles using high pressure to distribute the contained components as evenly as possible. Homogenisation is typically used to split fat globules in milk to keep the fat contained in the milk from separating.

 

Using pilot-scale homogenisers enables the testing of product properties first in small test batches of a few litres. Once the appropriate raw materials and process parameters have been found, it is possible to manufacture larger quantities in production, in batches of a few hundred or thousand kilograms, using an industrial-scale homogeniser.

Dairy process

 

You can easily adjust and test the properties and shelf life of liquid food products using different heat treatments. The continuously operable scraped surface heat exchanger can be applied for heating and cooling liquids. Using a scraped surface heat exchanger, you can also heat-treat more viscous liquids containing bigger particles. With various batch processing large-scale cooking pots, it is possible to heat the product during the stirring process, and Limitech pressure kettles can also be used for test batches if needed.

Baking process

 

Baking process equipment allows for small-scale baking. You can manufacture and roll doughs, manufacture and dispense fillings and rise and bake products in the bakery and convection ovens.

Extruder

 

Extrusion is a processing method used in a variety of ways in the food industry to enable efficient and continuous production. In the extrusion process, the raw materials, typically flour mix and water, are stirred in the machine using the rotating screws inside the extruder. In practice, the powders used as raw materials are added into the machine through the gravimetric feeder hopper, and liquid can be added with a pump during different stages of the process.

 

Two parallel screws cause the mass fed into the extruder to move forward. The extruded mass and its properties are moulded on the screws, affected by, for example, the temperature, pressure and screw components. The used screw configuration comes from placing different types of screw components in succession to achieve the desired process phases. Such phases include, for example, moving, mixing, homogenisation and increasing the pressure. The process can be controlled and altered by adjusting the rotation speed of the screws, the raw material feed or the extruder barrel temperature zones, for example.

 

Foodwest’s twin screw extruder allows for highly versatile development and production. With the twin screw extruder, you can manufacture different kinds of puffed cereals and snack products, for example. The extruder is especially good for manufacturing different plant-protein products and texturisation of protein raw material, allowing for meat-like texture with adequate firmness and mouthfeel. In addition to traditional “dry extrusion”, Foodwest’s twin screw extruder can be used for wet extrusion, meaning it can be used to manufacture so-called analogous meats. In the wet extrusion process, the proteins in the product are re-fibrillated, forming meat-like textures, in the “cooling end” attached to the back of the machine. The capacity of the machine is 10-80 kilograms per hour, depending on the material being processed and the desired end product.

Bowl cutter

 

The Talsa bowl cutter can be used in a variety of ways to stir, mince, grind or whisk food products. The bowl cutter can handle 80-litre batches of meat, fish, chicken, berries, grains and vegetables. Spices can be added to the mass during the mixing process, for example. Batch processing bowl cutters are widely used, especially in the convenience food industry, in the production of different masses.

Stirrer

 

The batch processing Mainca stirrer has a 200-litre basin. You can process and stir different dry masses and powders into an even mixture, for components needed for baking products and convenience foods.

Vacuum filling and dispensing equipment

 

The continuously operable Handtmann vacuum filling and portioning machine is also known as a “sausage machine”. In addition to meat products, the machine can be used to shape and dispense different vegetable masses or smaller breads, for example. Using different portioning equipment, you can portion fillings or other soft masses as well. There is a variety of different heads for portioning.

Contact cooking

 

The continuously operable Alco cooker is a diverse tool for cooking different products. The upper and lower Teflon bands can be adjusted to the desired distance and their intensity can be changed depending on the cooked product. Temperatures can be adjusted as desired using four different temperature zones. Contact cooking is particularly popular in convenience food industry processes.

Cooling

 

After cooking, quick cooling is required for the manufactured product before it is packaged. Cooling ensures that the texture and desired shelf life of the product are maintained. Foodwest’s pilot-scale cooling spiral is the only one of its kind. It is designed for efficiently cooling small batches as part of a continuous manufacturing process.

Tray sealing

 

Using Ulma tray sealing machines, products can be packed in plastic trays, or alternatively, use cardboard trays contained by thin plastic film. The plastic lid is laminated on the tray, and the shelf life of the product can be optimised by adding in a protective gas. Size options for tray packaging range from the traditional minced meat packages to the Dyno size used in larger kitchens. If you wish to emphasise the look of the packaged product, you can choose the skin option, in which the plastic film is laminated using a vacuum to the shape of the packaged product.

Bag packaging

 

With the Flowpack vertical bag packaging machine, you can effortlessly produce samples for use in marketing tests or consumer testing, for example. The width of a sealed bag is 110 mm, and the height can be adjusted as necessary. The machine accepts bright and metallised single-coloured films, and bag sizes can be changed by adjusting the length of the bag. Dry and powdery products are portioned by hand and liquid products can be dispensed automatically.

The tabletop vacuum packaging machine can be used for vacuum packing or sealing sample bags.

Chain bag packaging

 

The AmerChain packaging machine can be used to package a variety of dry and liquid products into bags of different sizes. The bags are delivered as a ready-made chain, which makes it quick and easy to dispense the desired product. Bag sizes vary from a few millilitres to several kilos. There are many options for bags, such as doypack bags that can stand on their own or resealable zipper bags. The machine seals the bag either from the upper or lower corner, depending on the selected bag type.

Cup seaming machine

 

The Polarcup cup seaming machine can be used to seal yoghurt cups or margarine tubs, for example. Products are first measured into the container, and then the lid is placed on top, after which the machine will form a seam to attach the lid to the container. The machine can be use to package products for marketing trial purposes or consumer testing, among other things.

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