One of Australia’s largest strawberry growers, Bundaberg-based SSS Strawberries, has opened a freeze-drying factory for Gina’s Table frozen fruit brand. The plant includes advanced freeze-drying technology from GEA and a pouch packaging line from Emrich to fill and seal pouches supplied by ePac.
The new 4000 square-metre factory, which opened in Thabeban, Bundaberg last week, will employ 50 staff once fully operational. Deploying freeze-drying technology developed by Danish company GEA, which has been used by NASA for preserving food in space, the plant will be able to process over 2000 tonnes of fruit at capacity.
Apart from the innovative technology installed, the big differentiator for this facility is that it will enable the freezing and packaging of fruit for sale that would otherwise have gone to waste.
General manager of Gina’s Table, SSS Strawberries’ retail brand, Gina Dang, sees this as a natural evolution of the family’s business.
“We invested in this factory as we saw a growing need to end food waste. We wanted to find a way to ensure that the fruit that can’t be sold due to strict criteria has a second life,” she said.
“We have been strawberry growers since arriving in Australia from Vietnam, so know first-hand the back breaking work it takes to get a good crop up and out of the ground. It’s heartbreaking to watch fruit that we have grown get rejected and destroyed.
“The level of innovation now available in freeze dry technology will allow us to take the next step in value adding to tonnes of strawberries that may have ended up rejected and destroyed in the past due to market conditions.”
Freeze drying is the process where frozen raw materials are placed in a refrigerated vacuum and ice crystals in the product are sublimated into water vapour, while the cell structure of the original product remains.
“This freeze-drying machine from Denmark gives us many applications for food production such as frozen fruit, fruit purees, juices, dairy blends, powders, crumbles and probiotic yoghurts,” she said.
“It also helps growers like ourselves to create new and interesting product lines for both the Australian market and export markets.
“Freeze dried fruits retain their shape integrity, are lightweight, have a long shelf life, are GMO-free and all natural, and most importantly, [the process] not only keeps, but intensifies the flavour.”
PACKAGING EFFICIENCY
To package the frozen products, the company purchased a RPM Mini Doy Servo 210 bagger, which was supplied and installed by Emrich, an Australian family-owned business based in Melbourne.
Flexibility was top of mind with when choosing this packaging equipment, which gives Gina’s Table the option to use pouches in different sizes and different formats, with the machine connectivity on the packaging line allowing automatic adjustment to packaging type.
The bagging machine is on casters for increased mobility and features a pre-made bag auto-feeder and zip opener; a product settler/bag shaker in program settings; a bag holder for thermal ink jet printing on pack, and built-in weigh measure and metal detector. With capacity to pack up to 50 bags per minute, it requires only six people to operate the line.
The flexible pouches, supplied by Melbourne-based digital printing and pouch converting specialist ePac, are made from a three-layered multi-laminate construction to ensure barrier properties to optimise the OTR (Oxygen Transfer Rate) and the WVTR (Water Vapour Transfer Rate), to extend shelf life.
The graphic design for the branded packaging was executed by Kevin Spark from Onion Creative in Brisbane.
A FAMILY BUSINESS
The SSS in the company name stands for Seven Successful Siblings, which run this thriving family business that moved to Bundaberg over 20 years ago.
“All my brothers and sisters Victor, Lily, Cindy, Tam, Trinity and Rena have worked incredibly hard to make this factory the logical next step in our family business,” Dang said.
“The seeds we are putting down today in opening this factory, plant the future – not only for our business but many other growers in Australia.”
Bundaberg Region Mayor Jack Dempsey welcomed the investment made by SSS Strawberries, which he said highlighted the region’s superior soils, which made it one of the leading growing regions in Queensland.
“The global food supply stemming from the Bundaberg Region’s ‘food bowl’ perfectly combines our natural competitive advantage with state-of-the-art processing,” Dempsey said.
“The agricultural industry is a key contributor to our local economy and to have businesses not just growing, but also processing and packing product in our region, creates a substantial flow on effect.
“The Bundaberg name is known throughout the world as a supplier of high quality, fresh produce and innovative products and this endeavour will further enhance that reputation.”
