4 FHA2018 SHOWDAILY 26 April 2018
Mission Foods going for the gluten-free brigade
Stella Tan( right), director of Foodservice sales, with her colleague, Julia Zhu, regional sales manager- Northern China, of Mission Foods( Shanghai) Co.
EVEN though a large part of the western world is fighting the menace of obesity, it has become equally apparent that the ranks of the health-conscious are on the rise.
“ It has been estimated that 28 % of the population follows a gluten-free diet; and the numbers are rising all the time. Research has also determined that 50 % of the gluten-free consumers are not willing to sacrifice taste, and all these people are often willing to pay more for a gluten-free substitute,” says Stella Tan, director of Foodservice Sales at Mission Foods( Shanghai) Co.( booth 8D3-04).
Australian food company Mission makes full use of this gluten avoidance by offering a vast range of gluten-free products for restaurants and cafes, that do not compromise on taste.
“ We have a great range of Mexican food, using the authentic flavours and spices of Mexico,” says Tan.“ Our range includes tortillas, salsas, seasoning, whole black beans, sauces and the family favourite, taco and burrito kits.
“ We have corn chips and ingredients, corn tortillas, pre-cut unfried corn chips, taco shells, pita wraps, pizza bases, flat breads, Indian and Lebanese breads and tortilla wraps.”
Beijing-based Julia Zhu, regional sales manager for Northern China, says that there is a USP( unique selling proposition) for each of these items in the range, to attract customers.
“ For example, we have nutritional variants of tortilla wraps available, that are 97 % fat-free and made from a multi-grain base,” she says.
“ Tortillas have international appeal through multiple cuisine applications, and are suitable for various cuisines and occasions, such as Mexican, Greek, Lebanese, Indian and Turkish; and also for breakfast and desserts.
“ Most of our products are shipped frozen, and have 12 months of frozen shelf life, so food safety is assured.”
Companies involved in the food and hospitality industries cannot passively react to the changing consumer behaviour. The companies most likely to succeed are those actively implementing smart innovations changing the very rules of the game.
— Ivan Uzunov Research Manager,
Euromonitor International
James Bint gets licence to fry
BY SHIRISH NADKARNI
FROM the Land of Tintin and Belgian chocolates comes another surprise— the now not-so-secret information that there is nothing French about french fries, and that the sliced potato which first slipped into the oil was representative of Belgian fries.
To tell this story especially to the young ones, Belgapom, the potato association of Belgium, has launched a campaign, and created a cartoon character along the lines of the British secret agent made famous by author Ian Fleming.
But, instead of toting James Bond’ s licence to kill, his tight-lipped( Bint does not speak), whitegarbed Belgian counterpart, incidentally named after a particular variety of potato, has been given a licence to fry.
If you would like to meet James Bint, head for booth 9G4-05 and approach with care; do not get into an argument with him or he will stuff you with fries— Belgian fries.
“ Fries originated in Belgium, not France,” insists Romain Cools, secretary-general of Belgapom, and president and CEO of EUPPA( the European Potato Processors’ Association).
“ It was just the particular manner in which the potato was cut that gave those fries their French connection. Otherwise, fries have come from Belgium.”
Cools, who has been associated with potato for over 30 years, claims that his country is currently the world’ s top exporter of the universally loved tuber.
“ In 1990, 500,000 tonnes of potatoes were being
$ 500,000 freezer will raise product quality & manpower efficiency
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Romain Cools, secretary-general of Belgapom, and president and CEO of EUPPA( the European Potato Processors’ Association) with James Bint.
processed in Belgium,” he says.“ By 2017, this figure had risen to 4.6 million tonnes. Now, this is really remarkable growth.
“ Belgium gave the world chocolates, which is something the women love. It also gave the world beer, which the men love. And it has given the world potato fries, which are loved mostly by children, but also by all members of the family.”
Cools, who will soon head to Peru for the triennial World Potato Congress, organised by a Canadian not-for-profit organisation, says that Belgian fries are free from artificial colouring and flavouring, and are different in taste from American fries, which employ yellow colouring.
“ The potato is taking over the world,” he says.“ Cereals and rice have been found to require a lot of water and land area, which are not really needed by potatoes. That is why, even in China, which consumes so much rice, they are slowly moving into widespread potato cultivation.” because our cost-efficiency can help to lower costs for our customers,” explains Dino Lim, CEO of Chun Hong Food Industries.
So after months of searching for a deep freezer system that is core to his food production processes, Lim took a very short time to make the decision on the FES Spiral Freezer. He had looked up various equipment suppliers on visits to China, talked to peers in the industry and checked out viable solutions from Cretel Food Equipment( booths H4H3-03 / H4H4-01).
After all this research, he found the FES continuous spiral freezer with self-stacking belt the best match for his requirements and a worthwhile investment.
Visiting Cretel Equipment at FHA exhibition yesterday, he lost no time to confirm the deal.
“ A $ 500,000 investment is not a small sum for a company of our size. But it will increase the quality of our products and improve our manpower efficiency … and in turn give us cost-efficiency.
“ I believe that the long-term prospects for food manufacturing and production are good in Singapore, but we are being challenged by the manpower crunch and many people do not like to work in food factories because of the hard work when a lot of our processes have not been automated.
“ On my visits to food factories in China, I was saddened to find that our food factories do not match up to factories there. There are more willing workers there because factories are more automated, making work easier. They may not have very advanced systems but more processes have been automated. For our industry to improve, we need to adopt more technology and automation.”
Lim says the FES deep freezer system will greatly boost the production efficiency in his food factory. And because of the good design, there is also less concern about machine maintenance.
The FES Spiral Freezer, manufactured in Shanghai, is one of the most well-designed efficient freezers in the industry. With the FES Spiral Freezer, hot food can go into the freezer at more than + 70 ° C and come out at – 18 ° C.
According to Andrew Khoo, managing director of Cretel Equipment Pte Ltd, the freezer uses a unique chain ball driving system that minimises belt tension while increasing driving power for greater capacity and longer belt life, which means greater reliability, lower motor energy consumption, and less maintenance.
The self-stacking belt creates an enclosed product zone in which controlled vertical convection airflow circulates, which quickly and uniformly reaches and freezes all food product surfaces with high efficiency.
The system also minimises ice crystal formation and dehydration during freezing.
An Air Frost Removal inside the freezer removes snow from the fins of the freezer evaporator immediately. This extends the operating hours between defrosts.
“ The design of the spiral stacking belt is highly efficient as it enables maximum throughput with minimal footprint,” says Khoo, adding that the unique self-stacking belt does not need to rest on any complex support structure, thus eliminating the problem of many hard-to-reach surfaces, corners and crevices that trap food debris and cause hygiene problems.
“ In this way, food safety is highly ensured,” smiles Khoo.