Spiral cooling system boosts scone production by 70%

Haywood and Padgett, producer of scones and bakery products for large UK supermarket chains, has seen a boost in production capacity after implementing Starfrost's spiral cooling system.

After a factory expansion at its Yorkshire site, the bakery was looking to increase its production capabilities and turned to Starfrost to develop a custom spiral cooler system. The system has two Helix spiral coolers, with a double drum that maximised production throughput thanks to its single continuous belt. The Helix spiral coolers also provided space-saving benefits, using the height of the factory while also maximising floor area. The spiral cooler design allowed the production line to be simplified with it being possible to load and unload the products from a low level without any high-level transfers between drums. This also led to a reduction in the scone's crumb losses.

The ambient coolers of the spiral systems allowed for a natural but controlled temperature reduction of the bakery production. This natural cooling means that the form and properties of the baked goods can be kept at an optimal level while also keeping costs low.

The solution also features a modular plastic belting system developed to reduce product movement, which is a critical requirement within the baked goods industry as proper positioning is essential. Additionally, this belting technology, known as Intralox DirectDrive, allows for the continuous operation of the spiral cooler thereby removing the need to stop production for cleaning.

"The Helix spiral cooler system has boosted processing capacity by a substantial 70%; we no longer have a bottleneck in our bakery, which allows production to run quicker and smoother. The Helix system also cools our products individually, which has positively impacted product quality and consistency. The impressive design of the Intralox DirectDrive removes product movement and preserves product shape of our bakery products as well as eliminating friction issues between the drum and the belt," said Andy Harrison, Project Manager at Haywood and Padgett.