GEA offers solutions for the proofing, cooling, and freezing of a wide range of foods and beverages. Now, with new and more advanced products, GEA intends to enter additional markets. In this interview, Annette Wille, President of GEA Freezer Technology Centers, explains how GEA approaches the various markets and describes the significance for European customers of the new series S-Tec spiral freezer systems that were introduced at the fair Anuga FoodTec.
Ms. Wille, could you please give our readers a brief overview of the various business areas in which GEA is active in the field of freezers?
In our business areas, we offer a selection of freezers, coolers, and proofers with various sizes and model types for the food and beverage industry. The portfolio here extends throughout the following bandwidth: carton freezers in which units are frozen and ready for consignment; tunnel freezers for freezing berries, French fries, vegetables, and the like; and spiral freezer systems that are widely used in such fields as the meat and bakery sectors. All of these processes apply classic refrigeration processes for cooling: in other words, we do not offer cryogenic processes. Our product portfolio, however, also contains efficient, individual quick-frozen systems (IQF) that gently process food products – for example, in the freezing of raspberries.
Since early 2014, you have been President of GEA Freezer Technology Centers. What has changed since then in the GEA freezer business?
It is especially important that our locations now become even more effectively networked with each other – after all, our area has developed as a result of the purchase of a number of companies on various continents. Today, we are a global supplier that combines experience from various and different regions and markets. In addition, crucial milestones were the successful startup of our freezer production in China and France, as well as progress in construction of our new Brazilian factory for carton and spiral freezers.
How do you evaluate the market for frozen food and the resulting outlook for your freezer business?
The international market for frozen food will grow appreciably. Based on prognoses, the share of frozen seafood on the total market in the Asia-Pacific region, for example, will continue to vigorously increase, and in America and Europe consumption of frozen foods will likewise rise in all areas. This means that the prospects for us are highly favorable.
In addition, we enjoy good opportunities for more effective penetration of markets. Although 2000 GEA freezers are indeed already in operation throughout the world, we have until now captured only part of the markets – to varying degrees according to region. In Europe, we are already well represented with freezers and proofers in the baked-goods and pizza sectors. Among meat processors and ready-meal producers, though, we are less well-known. In North America, the situation is vice-versa: which means that the transfer of regionally attained expertise to the other markets offers us excellent opportunities of growth.
Can all these markets be served by an internationally uniform product portfolio?
Not directly, but the basis of the systems is in fact usually identical. In order to cover product and country-related requirements, these systems have modular configurations. This not only takes the type, size, and weight of the frozen products into account, but likewise the various and different hygiene expectations and standards typical for the respective countries. Often there is a choice of casings and different inflow and outflow sections for integration into the production lines – or, we have single- or dual-drum configurations, for example, for spiral freezers. Components such as control and safety features can also be easily adapted. It is essential, in any case, that we utilize a uniform basis worldwide for each of the system types that we sell, and that we be able to bundle our know-how for development and production in our Technology Centers. This storehouse of knowledge and experience eventually works to the benefit of our customers.
You just now mentioned the Freezer Technology Centers, of which you are in charge. How many of these Centers are there, and what purpose do they serve?
These Technology Centers are competency centers for market research, development, product management, manufacturing, and quality assurance – and they also serve as service centers. New and ongoing development takes place there, as well as customizing. In our Technology Centers, we develop new solutions with advanced computer tools. We can carry out simulation for specific types of frozen goods, and we can verify the results in test freezer units. As a result, our customers receive the production system that exactly matches their products. In our Technology Centers, our customers also have the opportunity of discussing their wishes in dialog with our Project Managers, and of finding the solutions that they need. We run such Freezer Technology Centers in Vancouver (Canada), Dijon (France), Suzhou (China), and São Paulo (Brazil).
What are your latest technical developments?
Our most recent developments include our improved IQF freezers and the spiral freezers that were introduced at this year’s Anuga FoodTech fair.
What distinguishes the new S-Tec spiral freezers?
The new S-Tec spiral freezers process up to seven metric tons of food per hour and are designed for baked goods, meat, seafood, and many other applications. This series combines hygiene characteristics of the A-Tec series such as all-welded unit floors and – if requested – an all-welded and easily cleaned casing with the flexibility of the direct S-Tec predecessor E-Tec. Compared to the A-Tec models so popular in America, the S-Tec series is primarily characterized by the fact that it is easily installed, even on factory floors with space restrictions. The benefit results from a new drum concept based on new, special components. It enables integrating an S-Tec system more simply into an existing production line. In the course of S-Tec development, moreover, we have implemented optimal drum operations and have incorporated many additional detail improvements.
What market would you like to reach with the new S-Tec spiral freezers?
The most important market for the S-Tec is undeniably Europe, since a typical factory floor here is less generously dimensioned than, for example, in America. We will, however, offer the S-Tec in other regions as well.