Keeping control of ice-cream colour

Colour and appearance play a huge role in the way consumers select their ice-cream in supermarkets or convenience stores. Before they even taste the product, consumers first judge the colour and appearance of the frozen treats in display cases, then buy the brands that look the most appealing.

The sixth-largest ice-cream plant in the world, the Algida ice-cream factory in Çorlu, north-western Turkey, churns out nearly 1 billion units of ice-cream annually for both home and by food service applications. Algida wanted to tighten its process control so that its batches of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and other flavoured ice-creams would have consistent, uniform colour. Inconsistent colour was particularly evident when the same flavour from two production lots sat side by side in stores.

Getting the colour of ice-cream right is a major challenge in itself, due to the ingredients and the processes used in making the dessert. Ice-cream is made up largely of casein micelles, fat globules, air cells and ice crystals, all of which reflect light in different intensities depending on the composition of the recipe. Smaller particles and larger volumes of air bubbles will cause the uncoloured ice-cream to take on a lighter apparent colour. Even various types of cocoa used in making chocolate flavours have different shades of brown and red.

The company chose X-Rite to be its partner in the colour management of its processes. X-Rite with its wholly owned subsidiary Pantone is a worldwide leader in colour standards and the design and manufacture of colour management solutions for food processing, packaging, printing, cosmetics manufacturing and other industrial applications.

X-Rite experts first determined the colour tolerances that Algida needed to meet product specifications, then put together a package of instrumentation and software to satisfy those conditions. As part of the package, X-Rite customised the proper holders for test samples being measured by a benchtop spectrophotometer and installed its VS450 non-contact spectrophotometer in the lab.

The VS450 can measure colours accurately without contacting the test surfaces — a critical requirement whenever you are dealing with food products.

The Çorlu plant is a marvel of high-speed manufacturing, which makes it critical for lab personnel to make quick and accurate colour measurements of samples from batches before they flow down the production line.

By measuring the colour of samples frequently, quality control personnel can catch and correct small mistakes before they become big problems.

X-Rite VS450 non-contact spectrophotometer.

With the ability to measure wet or dry samples, the VS450 spectro and software can link objective numerical data — for example, the degree of hue, chroma and saturation of a particular ice-cream sample — with shopfloor variables during the manufacturing process, such as ingredients in a particular batch or mixing time. The instrument can be quickly positioned horizontally or vertically to measure odd-shaped or bulky samples at a distance of about 38 mm, and measurements can be uploaded directly to a computer for analysis.

The VS450 also more closely represents the way the human eye perceives colour and ultimately how the consumer will view the finished product because it doesn’t require a transparent barrier between the sample and instrument, which immediately imparts errors such as depth-of-field issues and ambient light piped in from the surroundings.

Colour quality is paramount to Algida, one of several ice-cream brands owned by the world’s largest manufacturer of ice-cream, Unilever. Long a favourite in Italy and other European countries, Algida has become the most popular brand of ice-cream in Turkey since its introduction about 20 years ago. Experts say the consumption of ice-cream in Turkey and Middle Eastern countries is growing strongly.

With the help of X-Rite technology, Algida will maintain its reputation for colour quality as it increases its capacity to provide delicious ice-cream treats to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

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