French pastry company opts for JBT's versatile spiral freezer

Founded in 1952, Vitacuire — a French producer of specialist frozen snacks and pastries — is now a major player in a seasonal industry where 50% of production takes place between September and December, providing retail, home service, food service and catering industries across Europe with a range of themed cocktail bites, petit fours and individual savoury pastries.

The company has a longstanding relationship with JBT FoodTech, having purchased its first Frigoscandia spiral freezer from JBT in 1989. Following a recent strategy review, Jean-Yves Krief, son of founder Emile Krief, approached JBT once again to help him maximise and simplify production.

“Our first Frigoscandia spiral freezer allowed us to move to a continuous production line,” said Jean-Yves. “At the time it simplified the whole process as there was less handling and much higher levels of hygiene. It was also quite a challenge for us, as it represented a real revolution in working methods, but we’ve never looked back.”

Vitacuire has now added the latest Frigoscandia GYRoCOMPACT 60 Spiral Freezer to its manufacturing base in Meyzieu near Lyon.

The freezer has enabled Vitacuire to reorganise its entire production line, increasing versatility and maximising space in the production room.

“We were able to configure the freezer, which meant we saved a lot of space, reduced energy usage and optimised cleaning times, which were all significant achievements for us,” said Jean-Yves.

“Versatility is a key word at Vitacuire because we produce a wide variety of products and need to change from one product to another very quickly in order to meet many different customer orders. The self-stacking structure has also enabled us to put maximum tiers in the allotted space. We can now treat 2.5 tons per hour of mini cocktail bites and savoury pastries.”

Another important aim for Vitacuire was to optimise cleaning and drying. With a wide variety of production changes and the presence of some potentially allergenic products, frequent cleaning is required. With the new freezer the cleaning time has decreased significantly.

Due to its redesigned outfeed system and automatic lubrication system, the drive power on the GYRoCOMPACT 60 Spiral Freezer has been reduced by 60% compared to previous generations, resulting in low energy consumption and a reduced risk of problems in the freezer’s components.