Malted ingredients company Holgran, part of the RHM group, has entered into a strategic alliance with cereal mixes and food improvers firm H O Short & Son to create a new business at Berwick upon Tweed in Northumberland called Silvery Tweed, which supplies ingredients for bread and flour products.
The new plant houses some of the very latest technology for the automated containment and transfer of materials and ingredients. It has been designed to minimise raw material loss, ensuring homogeneous mixing, gentle product handling and maximum production speeds. It also features a recipe handling system.
The £5.5m project took place in 2003, with AZO's materials handling installations going in between March to September at a cost of £700,000.
A crucial requirement was that a sterile environment was created with the flexibility for recipe changes without cross- contamination.
A cyclone screener prevents foreign material in bulk solids and liquids entering production processes. It checks individual ingredients before, during and after processing and ensures hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) adherence. The AZO DA cyclone screener used is also easy to clean.
Dust generated from the manufacture of flour was another important issue when designing the facility. Not only is dust extremely explosive, which means all machinery must comply with the ATEX directive, but safety requirements stipulate that the environment must be free of dust for workers -- especially those with asthma. The AZO flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) and filling station, was designed to comply with these regulations.
In the UK AZO is represented by its agent Ingredient Handling Solutions.
Contact: Ingredient Handling Solutions, Tel: 01283 817980