Xenos Aseptic Beverage Systems has recently installed an X500PP aseptic bottle filling machine and a tubular UHT pasteuriser at the new Manukau Food Innovation Centre in Auckland.
Commonly known as the ‘FoodBowl’, the NZ$18 million centre supports smaller food manufacturers in the development and testing of their products for commercialisation, particularly in the FMCG sector. While it is designed to assist smaller companies that lack the resources to commercialise their products, it will also provide a welcome boost to the New Zealand food market economy.
Handling up to 500 plastic and glass bottles an hour in a range of bottle sizes, the Xenos X500PP is a pilot plant filler that is used for a variety of products, from the aseptic filling of milks and juices to pasteurised milks and hotfill juices.
The system uses a sterilisation process that first steams and dilutes the bottles in hydrogen peroxide, then exposes them to UV light, achieving an extremely effective sterilisation in a short time. The Xenos aseptic bottling system is popular worldwide among beverage producers as the process eliminates the need for preservatives, caters for a range of bottle containers and provides a hygienic, long-life product.
The ‘FoodBowl’ pasteuriser is connected to the filler and runs 150 L per hour and can process a wide range of beverage types as it has a broad temperature capacity from 72°C for milk to 142°C for other beverage products.