Nitrogen freezers help German deep-frozen food maker keep costs down
Convenience sells. Not only for those who live alone but also for families and restaurateurs who save time by preparing ready meals to cook in the microwave or frying pan. Ready-to-cook meals are also the market area in which German deep-frozen food manufacturer Bürger GmbH maintains its hold.
This market has remained stagnant for about three years. On average German people spend a mere 18% of their income on food. During the Seventies the figure was 20%, after the war approximately 50%.
"Only with better quality and competitive prices can we maintain our market share" asserts Richard Bihlmaler, managing director of Bürger GmbH. "Quality is often cited as a deciding factor, but then the cheapest is purchased" he explains, and follows to talk about details of production. "One possibility for keeping manufacturing costs manageable and low is nitrogen freezers. Careful freezing enables us to produce high quality deep-frozen products economically." At any rate, the cryotechnic costs reduce the manufacturer's price by 5 to 10%.
The firm, established in 1934, has factories in Ditzingen near Stuttgart and in Swabian Crailsheim, it has approximately 1500 employees and an annual turnover of DM 120 to 130 million. The product range stretches from potato swirls to pasta squares and dishes with sauces such as tortellini and gnocchi. For several years now Bürger has been using various nitrogen freezers alongside conventional freezing technology. Nitrogen freezers require less space and due to their rapid cooling processes can be used several times over. For example, whole pasta squares are deep-frozen in the conventional way but pre-cut pasta squares are put in nitrogen freezers.
"The main reason for this is to avoid any harmful, bacteriological action," stresses Harald Windholz, technical director for Bürger. "Owing to the extremely cold temperature of liquid nitrogen (minus 196°C), the rapid cryogene process also prevents the formation of large ice crystals in the food. As a result the firm texture and taste of the frozen product is preserved", Windholz continues.
However, the German deep-frozen food manufacturer does not use production methods off the shelf. Instead specialized methods are often employed and only Air Product’s appliances are used for nitrogen freezers. From the conveyor belt freezer Cryo-Quick QF (a conveyor belt runs through a tunnel into which a set amount of liquid nitrogen is sprayed), to spiral and tandem freezers and the standing freezer, Cryo-Batch. Once again, questions of cost always play an important part; for example Air Products’ Cryo-Quick reduces the consumption of liquid nitrogen by 20% in comparison to systems made by other manufacturers. Fans are used to create a rotating spiral of nitrogen gas, which means that the transition between warm and cold is drastically improved by up to 150%. Greater accuracy in temperature control and an increase in the potential production capacity mean that these systems are much more economical.
Mr. Bihlmaier, director of Bürger, emphasizes that "In particular, the skilled and personalized discussions held with Air Products were of primary importance throughout the duration of our collaboration over the years. Our requirements regarding the refrigeration system, the production line system and the turn-around times were promptly fulfilled by Air Products."
For the medium-sized business, individualized systems of manufacture have an existential significance; in their ability to adapt to increasingly stylized products and to complex and rapidly changing consumer behavior.
"Air Products provide us with systems that are suited to our product concepts. As the period of development is so short, there is no need to apply to patent our production methods, thereby revealing them to our competitors. We have come to an arrangement with our supplier, Air Products, so that the methods developed especially for us would not be as effective elsewhere. Consequently we can assure for ourselves a market lead of about three years with our deep-frozen products", says Bihlmaier. "Air Products’ method can be incorporated into existing production systems without difficulty, thereby boosting our production efficiency," he adds.
The frequent rotation/exchange of products also takes Air Products’ business policy into account. Bürger hires the freezers for a period of three years. In addition to this attempts are made together with the user to introduce new products. At the moment Air Products has made their Cryo-Tumbler available to the ISO 9001 certified Bürger GmbH for tests, a product especially developed for dishes with sauces. The ingredients do not become one frozen block but are frozen separately. The consumer is therefore able to take out a desired quantity from the final product. According to John Summers, marketing director of Air Products Food Processing Group in Europe, the Cryo-Tumber opens doors for new product ranges. For example, this could affect Bürger in terms of béchamel sauce for Gnocchi and Tortellini.
Bürger and Air Products are presently working to crack another hard nutshell. It is a matter of configuring the nitrogen refrigeration system in such a way as to determine the consumption of nitrogen gas for each separate cold stream, so that production costs can be established more precisely. It is difficult to determine the amounts of liquid nitrogen used by measuring its flow as an indefinite portion is always present in gas form. In this area too, the partnership in technology is certain to find a solution.
For more information contact Air Products and Chemicals, 7201 Hamilton Blvd., Allentown, PA 18195. Tel: 610-481-4911; Fax: 610-481-5900. Or click here to visit their Food Online Pavilion.
Edited by Pam Ahlberg,
Managing Editor, Food Online