Extending snack product capability

An innovative approach to extending the end product capability of existing snack systems allows product portfolios to be enlarged with minimal investment. The Baker Perkins Snack Master concept allows a wide choice of equipment to be added to an existing line. Baker Perkins has a unique ability to adapt equipment and processes from other sectors to snack production, and integrate them with a comprehensive range of components dedicated to the industry. A line making basic, direct expanded products such as corn curls, chipsticks, and maize rings can be extended in stages to produce a full range of high-specification, complex snacks including whole grain / multigrain and sweet or savoury filled pillows with intriguing shapes, textures and surface patterns. New products can be introduced quickly, and short-life products become a profitable option. Baker Perkins provides the process and engineering expertise to reconfigure the lines, and works with customers to develop new product ideas. Snacks filled with real fruit in co-extruded bar, filled pillow, or imaginative ‘credit card’ shapes are recent innovations that will appeal to health-conscious consumers. Each installation is individually specified to match the customer’s exact product needs. Key to the Snack Master concept is the new SBX Master twin-screw cooker extruder, a solid-barrel unit offering process flexibility through modular design, high free-volume geometry and high torque capacity. In its simplest form this machine produces conventional direct expanded snacks that can be used to build or consolidate a market position. Additional units such as cutters, crimpers and co-extrusion equipment may be added over time to increase the range of end products to include pillows, tubes and filled snacks. At every stage Baker Perkins process expertise is available to ensure that the new equipment is integrated seamlessly into the existing line. The Snack Master concept may be extended to incorporate equipment from other processes to further increase the range of products that can be made. For example, cereal grain cookers for wholegrains or multi-grains; Thermoglide2 toasters for oil-free expansion of extruded pellets; shredding rolls for snacks with a distinctive layered texture; and syrup-based coating systems for oil-free coating and flavouring. Further information: Keith Graham at Baker Perkins. Tel +44 1733 283000. Email keith.graham@bakerperkinsgroup.com

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