As Chillventa 2014 draws near, Frozen Food Europe presents an exclusive interview with Annette Wille, president of the Technology Center Freezer at GEA Refrigeration Technologies, about the market of industrial freezing solutions for the food industry.
How would you characterize the market of industrial freezing solutions for the food industry in Europe, in 2014?
The frozen food market in Europe as a whole remains buoyant, as it has been for the last 25 years. Of course, there are one or two markets and sectors affected by the financial crash of the last five years, and some companies have been impacted by the horsemeat scandal. However, to make a general statement, there is continued investment in frozen food production as a result of market growth, new product development, and replacement freezer sales.
Please describe the evolution of this market over the past five years, from the perspective of your company.
GEA Freezing is a relatively new name on the European freezer market. As such, it has met with a particular challenge to promote its name and its equipment – and its partnership with our GEA group companies such as refrigeration and process lines in the protein sector. The required freezing solutions continue to change as a result of product developments and pressure from manufacturers to increase capacity and length of operation times.
The European freezer market is technically demanding, and there is continued focus on energy costs for both refrigeration and freezing. Food hygiene standards have become increasingly stringent, and as a manufacturer our designs have developed in a similar way. We have introduced exceptionally hygienic freezer designs, with the first batch of these freezers to be installed by mid-2014. These installations result in greater acceptance from frozen- and chilled-food manufacturers, owing to their need to ensure that all sections of the process line maintain high production hygiene standards, with documented adherence to these standards.
What notable changes have you noticed on the part of your clients and their demands?
There is a real trend toward increased production capacity with 160 hours or more of continuous production. Focus is also on energy consumption, with the effect that refrigeration systems are being designed to operate at slightly warmer temperatures – which saves energy. Freezer design must evolve to compensate for operation at a slightly higher temperature, without negative effect on production times, product yields, or food quality.
What is the top-selling equipment dedicated to freezing food in your company portfolio? How would you break this down according to product market targets and characteristics, and according to the respective industries?
By and large, spiral freezer sales still dominate our activities in Europe, although we are seeing incremental growth in other types of freezers such as IQF tunnels, which are also adopting the higher hygiene standard. GEA Freezing continues to supply all segments of the frozen food industry including bakery, ready meals, French fry and potato lines, protein, vegetables, and so on. Of these segments, bakery represents the largest market share of these particular sectors, with sales for coolers, proofers, and freezers.
Please name three challenging aspects of this market as well as the solutions that your company has come up with to address and overcome these challenges.
One of the issues in Europe is achieving desired capacity in restricted factory space. GEA has added to our product range by developing a range of self-stacking spiral solutions. These freezers deliver up to 40 % more capacity in the same space, compared with traditional rail-supported conveyor spirals. The technology for stacking is not new. However, we have further developed our equipment, on the basis of our own manufactured belts that incorporate patented features and that improve on existing stacking belt designs. We have designed belt widths to suit all process line dimensions – also to allow compatibility with other manufacturers.
Another issue in Europe is energy consumption. GEA has accordingly invested in CFD software to realistically model airflows in freezers. The objective here is to achieve greater efficiency of heat transfer that allows smaller, more energy-efficient fans and that enables higher evaporation temperatures from refrigeration plants. Both combine to save energy. By using CFD tools, we have developed designs to ensure that freezer performance is maintained while using less energy. Actual production performance is then compared to the modeled solution to verify accuracy.
A third challenge has been system integration. By this we mean bringing together the refrigeration plant, evaporator design, and freezer design. In a freezer we need a cold source. This necessitates refrigeration, which means that we need a heat exchanger to take heat from the food and transfer it to the cold source. We also require an evaporator and, lastly, we need effective mechanics of the freezer itself to ensure that the food is transported without damage in a hygienic environment and in such a way that allows heat transfer to take place. In GEA we possess manufacturing know-how for all three elements. We have spent quite some time integrating these three vital components to deliver energy-efficient, hygienic, and space-efficient freezers. Our efforts include, in other words, the complete cold chain.
How do you believe this market will evolve in the near future?
I do not see radical evolution of the market. There will be continuing emphasis on energy reduction, greater capacity requirements, longer operation times, and increasingly stricter hygiene requirements. All of these challenges must be addressed within the context of reduced factory footprints, as the cost of factory construction increases. The sector will continue to be very competitive, and technical differentiation by manufacturers will be essential to maintain success. After-sales service will undoubtedly become an important factor as factories squeeze more production and longer operation times out of new and existing freezer installations.
How has your company evolved during the most recent financial year, with respect to the segment of industrial freezing solutions? And what are your expectations and estimates for 2014, financially or otherwise?
In 2013 in Europe we registered quite an improvement in freezer order intake compared with previous years. The signs for 2014 are very encouraging, with order intake continuing at a high level. This confidence is reflected in investment in a GEA freezer manufacturing facility in Dijon in France that will serve European and Middle Eastern markets. GEA is unique in that we manufacture the belt, evaporator, insulated enclosure, doors, floor, and supporting structure within our company. The designs that this enables are perhaps a key factor in our buoyant sales. At the moment we can foresee a good level of activity throughout the present year.