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From raw material to finished food - production technology in the spotlight at Expo Kielce
His talk, ‘A holistic look at technology solutions in the pet food industry’, showed how to match equipment to the type of product and the scale of the operation. He walked through the technology used to make pâtés, chunks in gravy and jelly, mousses, BARF (raw) diets and formed snacks.
From recipe to mass preparation
Texture, particle size and portion size dictate what the machinery has to do. Gąsiorowski explained the grinding, mixing and bowl-chopping stages, highlighting the importance of temperature control. He also covered machines that combine several operations in one, used for example to make pâté-style products.
Portioning adapted to the scale of production
Consistent portion weights keep raw-material use under control and ensure the product stays true to spec. He presented both set-ups in which an operator places the pack and starts the filler by hand, and fully automatic systems that hand over to the next machines on the line.
How the pack is filled matters too. The movement of the filling head can be adjusted to the texture of the food and the desired look of the portion.
New forms of delicacies
The growth of the snack segment is fuelling interest in forming technology. Swapping the forming die produces different shapes, while the machine settings determine the length of the product. Gąsiorowski also discussed co-extrusion, which makes it possible to produce filled treats.
What counts is the cooperation of the entire line
Michał Gąsiorowski gave examples of integrated equipment, including projects carried out with MULTIVAC. As he stressed, designing the process means thinking about how each portion is transferred, how it is positioned and what the packing stage requires. Efficient production, after all, depends on the machines working in concert at every stage – from preparing the mix to sealing the pack.
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