Shaping specialist Krüger & Salecker (K&S) presents its first system for fruit jelly production. The process used does not require long maturing times during gum production.

Gentle production processes for the food industry – that’s what Krüger & Salecker (K&S) stands for. Now, the moulding experts have put their engineering experience into a system for fruit jelly production. The FFW system is a compact machine with no need for long maturing times during gum production. The engineers from Bad Schwartau/Germany rely on their core competence: the use of moulding rollers to get products into shape. Sales of the new systems have begun, and the company will present it to a broad audience at interpack 2023 trade show in Düsseldorf/Germany.

The FFW systems are designed to process viscous formulations with – compared to conventional processes – a very high viscosity and an aw value of less than 0.65. They are filled into rotating moulds at temperatures below 85 °C and then immediately cooled down further. In less than 12 s, the gums reach a solid state and are removed from the mould. No further maturing times are necessary. The products can be directly post-processed and packaged.

According to the company, sensitive ingredients can be added gently to the recipes and will be exposed to elevated temperatures for no more than 30 s. K&S Managing Director Sören Bettex: „The particularly gentle handling of ingredients is highly important to us. The FFW systems do comply with our high standards and guarantee very simple production processes at the same time.“ This will allow new concepts for the functional food sector regarding dietary supplements, OTC products, lifestyle products or also products with active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The FFW lines are designed to produce glucose-based products, but also gums with up to 100 % fruit content. Inclusions are possible as well, for example the insertion of fruit pieces.

According to Sören Bettex – he took over the engineering company in 2020 together with his cousin Tammo Bettex – the FFW system offers one crucial advantage: „The entire equipment needs very small space. The FFW production process does not require the use of starch or starchless moulding boxes, and there is no need for curing chambers.“ The use of moulding rollers means that motif changes are quick and easy – just swop the tool. Thanks to IP 65 standards, cleaning cycles are short, and the issue of cross-contaminations has also been taken into account.

The FFW system can operate with batch sizes from 10 kg. However, the process is particularly suitable for continuous production and then has an output of about 350 kg/h with a working width of 400 mm.

The development of the systems was carried out in close cooperation with the manufacturers of the peripheral technologies. K&S relies on a solid network among market leaders with expertise regarding recipe development, cooking plants, cooling systems and subsequent packaging. The machine manufacturer has applied for a patent for the key elements of this technology.