Nestlé's pizza toppings sorted for safety inspections

Nestlé pizza brands use TOMRA Food’s Smart Sort technology for its safety check on toppings.

During harvesting of the vegetables used for frozen pizza topping, foreign materials, such as sticks, stones, glass and plastics, can get mixed in with the crop. Farmers and suppliers implement safety checks before sending these products to processors, but further screening from Nestlé is designed to eliminate this risk. The company’s safety inspections use advanced sorting technologies to ensure that only the highest quality ingredients are used on its frozen pizza.

With a goal of continuous improvement, Nestlé’s pizza factory in Germany tested the capabilities of several sorting machines and decided to implement the TOMRA sorting technology.

How it works

The quality check process involves taking raw material out of cases, putting it through a series of inspections and then putting it back in cases after it has been determined safe and desirable.

The first two examinations see the toppings pass through a bulk X-ray machine and then over a magnet to remove any remaining metals. The final check sees the remaining good materials travel through the TOMRA optical sorter before finally returning to the cases.

According to Adam Weber, Senior Expert Supplier Quality Management, Nestlé R&D, a key strategic advantage of the technology is its ability to segregate material defects across an entire batch and use this data as input to suppliers.

Employing TOMRA sorters has positively impacted Nestlé’s procedures, adding a point in the process to reduce the risk of foreign matter ending up in final products.

Using the TOMRA Nimbus, Nestlé processes around 6.8 million kg of raw material at its Ohio facility in a year, where it distributes toppings to three other production locations around the US. The machine allows production lines to run the highest volumes while collecting data to help notify suppliers of product quality trends earlier in the supply chain.

“Based on our previous equipment testing and the growing relationship, Nestlé trusted TOMRA’s experience and equipment and remains confident in our partnership. The equipment’s quality and reliability minimised the need for support or interaction. After the initial commissioning and training by TOMRA, the local team has been able to operate the unit independently. They’ve barely had to interact with it, except to change a program or recipe to accommodate the different incoming frozen veggies being screened, and that speaks volumes,” said Will Hutson, Quality Manager, Nestlé R&D.

Nestlé uses TOMRA optical sorters for its Frozen Food operations at Solon (United States) and Nonnweiler (Germany).