Nutty solution for Global Foods

After Global Foods’ nut roasting room was destroyed in a fire, the company took the opportunity to build a more efficient system that’s dynamic and now multifunctional. Sydney-based Global Foods is a leading specialty food importer and manufacturer, distributing a large range of specialty products including olives, nuts, fruits, beans, antipasti and more.

“This gave Enmin the exciting opportunity to custom design and build new equipment to more efficiently service their needs,” said Anthony Gallaher, general manager Enmin Vibratory Equipment. “We were able to provide them with a turnkey solution. The circumstances provided us with a ‘greenfields’ type of opportunity. The fire had left a blank canvas to create a system that would offer all the flexibility Global Foods really needed,” said Gallaher.

“The customer already had the roaster, the multihead weigher, VFFS, check weigher and metal detector, and needed equipment designed and built to link these key components to create a system that could bulk and mini pack, potentially at the same time with minimal interruption and maximum efficiency.

“The project was rolled out over two phases, putting together the jigsaw for Global Foods with the result culminating in their current complete system.”

Traditionally Enmin hasn’t been known for turnkey solutions but the company becomes involved when the core benefit is the use of vibratory feeders as this is its prime area of expertise.

In this application the four key ingredients were all vibratory feeders in screening, storage, metering and delivery of product.

Removing fines was the first task. Once the product leaves the fryer it is turned at right angles and conveyed the full width via an electromechanical vibratory feeder. The feeder has a screen section prior to discharge that removes a large portion of all undersized product, which is collected underneath the feeder.

The next goal was to ensure accumulation could occur and the product could be buffered/stored in the process when necessary. This was required if the system stopped downstream for any reason or when an alternative packaging format was required.

“The roaster cannot be turned off, so the ability to buffer the product was a must have,” said Colin Wilson of Global Foods.

Enmin decided to use one of its electromagnetic hopper feeders with a diversion system. This would enable the product to be stored for a period of time so that when required the product could either be transferred to a bulk packing system or allowed to continue onwards to the high-speed vertical packing end.

At this point the system had to be able to deliver the product to two bulk bags or two 25 kg boxes for filling. A reversing vibratory feeder provided the ideal solution. After the hopper feeder, the product is elevated and delivered centrally into the feeder so that the operator can control which discharge point is ready to be filled. The key benefits of the Enmin system for Global Foods was the ability to maximise production rates, ensure efficiency through minimal operator intervention and deliver a system that provided multiple packaging options without equipment interchange.

“The Enmin system has exceeded our expectations” said Wilson. “We’re getting greater and more efficient production capacity with far less intervention. Enmin has been able to seamlessly integrate a large number of different processes!”