Heat exchanger helps produce carrot powder
Family-owned for four generations , Huntapac is a leading grower and supplier of root crops such as carrots and parsnips . Following a reorganisation of the business in 2019 , the company wanted to develop new value-led product options and so installed a stateof-the-art line to produce carrot powder , with a heat exchanger from HRS Heat Exchangers forming a key part of the new process .
Established near Preston by William Hunter in 1942 , Huntapac initially grew a range of crops for fruit and vegetable
58 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk markets in the North West , before starting to supply leading supermarkets almost fifty-years ago . The company was a major producer of root crops ( carrots and parsnips ), salads and brassicas ( such as cauliflower and broccoli ) until a few years ago , when it decided to rationalise its operations and concentrate solely on the root crops .
The business grows more than 1,300 hectares of carrots and parsnips across the UK , from Suffolk to Scotland , all of which are taken to the company ’ s factory at Holmes near Preston for washing and packing . With the increased focus on root crops , the company was keen to add value to the five per cent of the crop which is not suitable for its packing customers and looked at a number of options before deciding on the production of carrot powder .
“ Five per cent may not sound like a lot , but when you are washing up to 400 tonnes of carrots a day , it soon adds up ,” comments Huntapac ’ s Commercial Director Steven Kay . “ We researched a few methods because there are lots of different drying techniques available ,