Bürger GmbH: Prepared Foods, Germany
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For Bürger GmbH, the Air Products competence has made the difference
Deep-freezing food in nitrogen freezers
"Convenience" sells. It is not only those who live alone but families and restaurateurs who also save time by preparing ready meals to cook in the microwave or frying pan. Ready-to-cook meals are also the market area in which deep-frozen food manufacturer Bürger GmbH maintains its hold. For suppliers like Tengelmann, Rewe, Spar, Lidl and other large consumers such as catering and canteen suppliers who have had to fight the food market. |
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This market has remained stagnant for about three years. On average German people spend a mere 18 per cent of their income on food. During the Seventies the figure was 20 percent, after the war approximately 50 percent. "Only with better quality and competitive prices can we maintain our market share" asserts Richard Bihlmaler, Managing Director of Bürger GmbH. "Quality is often cited as a deciding factor, but then the cheapest is purchased" he explains, and follows to to talk about details of production. "One possibility for keeping manufacturing costs manageable and low is nitrogen freezers. Careful freezing enables us to produce high quality deep-frozen products economically." At any rate, the cryotechnic costs reduce the manufacturer's price by 5 to 10 per cent.
The firm, established in 1934, has factories in Ditzingen near Stuttgart and in Swabian Crailsheim, it has approximately 1500 employees and an annual turnover of DM 120 to 130 million. The product range stretches from potato swirls to pasta squares and dishes with sauces such as tortellini and gnocchi. For several years now Bürger has been using various nitrogen freezers alongside conventional freezing technology. Nitrogen freezers require less space and due to their rapid cooling processes can be used several times over. To give an example, whole pasta squares are deep-frozen in the conventional way but pre-cut pasta squares are put in nitrogen freezers. "The main reason for this is to avoid any harmful, bacteriological action" underlines Harald Windholz, Technical Director for Bürger. "Owing to the extremely cold temperature of liquid nitrogen (minus 196 degrees Celsius), the rapid cryogene process also prevents the formation of large ice crystals in the food. As a result the firm texture and taste of the frozen product is preserved", Windholz continues.
However, the German deep-frozen food manufacturer does not use production methods off the shelf. Instead specialised methods are often employed and only Air Product's appliances are used for nitrogen freezers. From the conveyor belt freezer CRYO-QUICK™ QF (a conveyor belt runs through a tunnel into which a set amount of liquid nitrogen is sprayed), to Spiral and Tandem freezers and the standing freezer, CRYO-BATCH™. Once again, questions of cost always play an important part; for example Air Products' CRYO-QUICK™ reduces the consumption of liquid nitrogen by 20 percent in comparison to systems made by other manufacturers. Fans are used to create a rotating spiral of nitrogen gas, which means that the transition between warm and cold is drastically improved by up to 150 percent. Greater accuracy in temperature control and an increase in the potential production capacity mean that these systems are much more economical.
The Director of Bürger, Mr Bihlmaier emphasises that "In particular, the skilled and personalised discussions held with Air Products were of primary importance throughout the duration of our collaboration over the years. Our requirements regarding the refrigeration system, the production line system and the turn-around times were promptly fulfilled by Air Products."
For the medium-sized business individualised systems of manufacture have an existential significance; in their ability to adapt to increasingly stylised products and to complex and rapidly changing consumer behaviour. "Air Products provide us with systems which are suited to our product concepts. As the period of development is so short, there is no need to apply to patent our production methods, thereby revealing them to our competitors. We have come to an arrangement with our supplier, Air Products, so that the methods developed especially for us would not be as effective elsewhere. Consequently we can assure for ourselves a market lead of about 3 years with our deep-frozen products", Bihlmaier continues, explaining a secret of the company's success. The technical director adds further, "Air Products' method can be incorporated into existing production systems without difficulty, thereby boosting our production efficiency."
The frequent rotation/exchange of products also takes Air Products' business policy into account. Bürger hires the freezers for a period of three years. In addition to this attempts are made together with the user to introduce new products. At the moment Air Products have made their CRYO-TUMBLER™ available to the ISO 9001 certified Bürger GmbH for tests, a product especially developed for dishes with sauces. The ingredients do not become one frozen block but are frozen separately. The consumer is therefore able to take out a desired quantity from the final product. According to John Summers, the Marketing Director of Air Products Food Processing Group in Europe, the CRYO-TUMBLER™ opens doors for new product ranges. For example, this could affect Bürger in terms of béchamel sauce for Gnocchi and Tortellini.
The collaboration between Bürger and Air Products over the years also serves as proof of quality of the American company, "We are still checking up on quotes from other equipment manufacturers", the Bürger's Managing Director underlines. Just recently, however, Air Products succeeded once more to secure an order from the German company thanks to cost effective equipment, competent consultation and flexible technology.
Bürger and Air Products are presently working to crack another hard nutshell. It is a matter of configuring the nitrogen refrigeration system in such a way as to determine the consumption of nitrogen gas for each separate cold stream, so that production costs can be established more precisely. It is difficult to determine the amounts of liquid nitrogen used by measuring its flow as an indefinite portion is always present in gas form. In this area too, the partnership in technology is certain to find a solution.
Air Products' influence goes beyond the freezing process, ensuring that the food arrives in the consumer's hands in satisfactory form and condition. Tens of thousands of cubic metres of mixed gas are delivered monthly to Crailsheim and Ditzingen, which is used in the inert gas packaging of fresh products. Bürger uses tubular bags in its packaging process and deep drawing machines. In the case of the German company, a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen is used in varying proportions depending on the product. Each ratio has been optimised by the Germans following years of experience. Bürger mixes the gases from two tanks situated above a mixing apparatus just prior to the packaging process, for other requirements ready made gas mixtures are available from Air Products under the brand name FRESHLINE™. The inert gas treatment has double benefits for the consumer of food stuffs: on the one hand the inert gas packaging helps preserve the product for longer and in addition to this the packaging is physically more durable.
© Air Products and Chemicals, Inc - 1998.
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