French fries maker installs fully integrated processing line

Bem Brasil is a leading potato processor in Brazil, producing around 500,000 metric tons of product each year. Founded in 2006, the company has grown rapidly and now supplies more than half of all French fries consumed in the country, in addition to international markets. To support this growth, the food manufacturer installed a Key Technology processing line designed to run 30 metric tons of frozen potato strips per hour.

“We reached a point where our existing lines couldn’t keep up with demand for our products,” said Célio Zero, Director of Operations at Bem Brasil. “On top of that, our incoming raw material can naturally vary several times in a single day, so we needed equipment that performed reliably even with those product shifts.”

Key stood out as the supplier of choice because it provided a fully integrated solution with optical sorters, graders, full-surface inspection, quick changeovers, straightforward operation and more.

The French fries manufacturer uses Key’s VERYX optical sorters in both the wet and frozen areas. Upstream in the wet area, three VERYX B210 sorters equipped with off-axis cameras in a tilted-X configuration find and reject product defects without blind spots. By sorting product early in the process, these systems are designed to produce a cleaner, more uniform product stream that improves overall line performance downstream.

In the frozen area just before packaging, three VERYX B175 sorters equipped with cameras and lasers perform both three-way sorting and final inspection, separating short potato strips into a dedicated stream while simultaneously removing foreign material (FM) and product defects. Key’s Sort-to-Grade (STG) software evaluates each strip’s dimensions and quality profile to determine its impact on the final grade and make accept/reject decisions that help maximise yield. Pixel Fusion technology is designed to further improve detection accuracy, identifying difficult-to-find FM and defects prior to packaging.

“Since defects can appear on any side of a potato strip, a complete view improves the precision of the sort and helps us achieve the great product quality we’re known for,” Zero said.

“VERYX is also easy for our team to operate. The interface is clear, the recipe changes are fast and the equipment responds to the setting adjustments as expected. That makes a meaningful difference when we’re changing recipes several times a day.”

The line also incorporates an ADR EXOS automatic defect removal system downstream of the wet-area sorters. Defective strips rejected by the sorters are routed to the ADR, where its mechanical cutting system removes only the blemished portion and returns good strips to the line.

Key’s Iso-Flo vibratory conveyors support product handling across the entire line. The shakers spread and distribute product, regulate flow between processing steps and feed downstream equipment. Three Sliver Sizer Removers upstream of the wet-area sorters reject small slivers and nubbins to deliver a cleaner product stream ahead of inspection.

“Since our new line reached full production in 2022, it has proven its effectiveness and reliability across every season,” Zero said. 

Images: Supplied