Supermarket Systems and Equipment 33 Cool solution for chilled foods firm
OSCAR MAYER, a leading producer of chilled ready-meals, has called on Seymour Manufacturing International (SMI), a leader in thermal insulation material, to help solve a temperature control issue at its Ferndale Foods factory at Erith in Kent.
Oscar Mayer supplies around 2.5 million chilled products every week to major supermarkets including Sainsbury’s and Morrisons under its own private label. The company, which has three facilities in the UK, also makes 1.5 million frozen ready meals a week under the Ferndale Foods brand for Waitrose.
SMI chairman Brian Seymour says: “Ferndale Foods contacted us because they were concerned at how much temperature was leaking from their cold store into the neighbouring packing area, so we fitted a set of our Cold Stop curtains.
“Tests on the site showed they would get a return on their investment in just a few months, and we were almost immediately invited to quote for six more.” Engineering supervisor at Ferndale Foods, Rob Denne, says that one of the company’s suppliers had told him about the success that a major supermarket chain had been having with the SMI
products in its fridges. So Oscar Mayer contacted SMI to see what would be possible at the Erith factory. Mr Denne says: “Initially, we just ordered one door to see how things went, but the benefits were soon apparent. We have since ordered six complete sets of curtains, and we will definitely be using them again.
“SMI could not have been more helpful, and the installation process could not have gone more smoothly. We will recoup our investment in six or seven months, because of the amount of money they are saving us on our energy bills.” Ferndale Foods has two sister companies in the UK – Oscar Mayer in Chard, Somerset and Rowan Foods in Wrexham. Mr Seymour says: “We have already done business with Rowan Foods, supplying them with a giant cold store door which was six metres high and three metres wide. Energy saving tests showed that this single door saved the company £4,500 on its energy bills in the space of 12 months.”
SMI’s latest Cold Stop curtains use the company’s leading Tempro insulation material and provide a ground-breaking, anti-bacterial alternative to plastic strip curtains or PVC doors used in many
coldrooms.
Cold Stop curtains are available in standard widths of 300mm and bespoke heights with deep, clear windows. They can be easily and quickly installed. They are energy efficient and provide reduced wear on evaporator equipment allowing optimum settings to quickly achieve an internal working temperature. SMI has carried out tests on the products with thermal imaging equipment, revealing that the outside temperature of Cold Stop curtains in a freezer can register at 10°C, while the inside surface is recorded as low as –21°C.
Based in Shropshire, SMI was established more than 30 years ago. It already has a blue-chip list of clients in the supermarket sector for its innovative temperature-controlled curtains, cold room doors, modular temperature- controlled zones and pallet covers. In addition, the company makes Tempro thermal insulation systems, roll cage covers and pallet covers, thermal covers, bags and boxes.
SMI is active in Europe, Scandinavia, South Africa and Australia. It is currently in talks about expanding into the USA and Canada.
Hawco
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ACR News March 2014
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