The Best Of New Zealand Innovation On Show At Foodpro 2023 Including New Green Freeze Dryer And Automated Robots

The best of New Zealand’s equipment manufacturers will be out in force at Australia’s longest-running and leading food manufacturing industry event – foodpro 2023.

More than 380 exhibitors will be on the foodpro floor this year with the event taking place over four days from July 23-26 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

New Zealand food and beverage manufacturing exhibitors have long been a vital part of each foodpro event said Product Manager, Felicity Parker. “The key companies who attend continue to demonstrate their highly valued expertise and innovation in the sector making them very appealing to Australian and international visitors,” she said.

New Zealand-based exhibitor, Cuddon Freeze Dry, is one company showcasing its latest innovation – a new ‘green’ range of commercial conductive batch freeze dryers aimed at the dairy industry.

The range of dryers, designed and manufactured in New Zealand, include the FD100GPC small commercial model, also suitable for R&D and pilot scale work, the FD600GPC and FD1200GPC, and its largest industrial model, the FD1800GPC. The model number denotes the amount of moisture (in kg) the ice trap can capture within 24hrs.

Blair Kibblewhite, Cuddon’s Sales & Marketing Manager, said the design is centred around the use of liquid filled heat plates delivering less than 1 kelvin variation across all contact surfaces in the dryers. “This means Cuddon freeze dryers can deal with heat sensitive products better than other types of freeze drying and are the preferred choice in the dairy industry globally to dry whey protein extract products such as Lactoferrin, where retention of bioactivity is key,” he said.

Using CO2 as the freeze dryer refrigerant to replace traditional high Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants is a significant milestone, reducing the environmental impact by more than four thousand times by the use of this natural gas.

Kibblewhite added that foodpro is always valued by the company as a key opportunity to meet with new and existing clients. “We hope stand visitors will be impressed with our new 3D printed model freeze dryers, debuting at the show.”

Another New Zealand company, MHM Automation, has also launched two innovative products that have the potential to transform the way food processing and logistics companies handle materials. The products include the MHM Automated Robots (AMRs) and the H&C Gantry Palletister and De-Palletiser. Both products have been designed to make automation more viable for small to medium operations, and customer interest has been strong.

The AMRs are autonomous vehicles that can move products on pallets or in crates without conveyors, making them ideal for congested production environments. They feature integrated navigation and vision technology, enabling them to move safely around people and objects. AMRs provide a rapid implementation solution that deliver an appealing return on investment compared to pallet conveyors or AGVs. As they can function as a fleet, they can be scaled to suit the needs of both small and large operations, making them a flexible and versatile option.

The H&C Gantry Palletiser and De-Palletiser (SimPal50), can palletise or de-palletise up to eight boxes or bags per minute and is a low-cost alternative to a robotic palletiser. The SimPal50 features MHM’s proprietary vision system, which enables it to identify and de-palletise boxes in a randomly stacked pattern.

Other New Zealand companies exhibiting this year include:

Argus - design a range of machinery products for industries including those in meat and food processing sectors.

Bucher-Alimentech - produce machinery for ion-exchange and adsorptive polymer systems for the treatment of liquid foods, such as juices.

Thermaflo - design, fabricate, install, and commission liquid food process systems.

FPS Food Process Solutions - global leader in turn-key food freezing and cooling equipment.

HD Process NZ – supply quality sanitary stainless steel process equipment to meet all food industry needs.

Kando Innovation - deliver robotic manufacturing cells which include high accuracy machining, gluing and assembly.

foodpro is on 23-26 July 2023, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. For event details visit https://foodproexh.com

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