To expand their brand a well known spaetzle producer contacted us to see if we could help them fix a specific challenge. Typical pasta is dried but spaetzle keeps its doughy texture until it is cooked by the end consumer. As a result this fresh pasta expires a lot quicker. This limitation unfortunately leads to food wastage and limits the producers from expanding into new markets.
To ensure the product can be competitive with other pastas they wanted to spray the pasta with an antimicrobial bio protection agent to increase the shelf life. After consulting with an external bio protection firm they determined that the best time to apply the agent was right before the spaetzle is packaged. The only question was: how can we apply this agent efficiently.
AutoJet® Anti-microbial Spraying System
With over 80 years of experience in spray technology and a dedicated food division we were confident that we would meet the spaetzle producers’ expectations.
To ensure we would meet the desired shelf life target we first ran a series of validation tests with the producers of the bio protection agent to determine the necessary quantity that needed to be applied. Based on this data we were able to spray a tiny amount of the antimicrobial onto the noodles to prevent bacterial growth. We can easily do this thanks to Precision Spray Control (PSC). This technology allows us to turn nozzles on and off very quickly to control the flow rate. The system we selected for this application consists of a the following products:
- • AutoJet® F1850+ Modular Food System
- • 2x PulsaJet® 114860-X Food Contact nozzle for spraying the top of the spaetzle
- • 1x PulsaJet® 114860-X Food Contact nozzle for spraying the bottom of the spaetzle
Result
Our customer was happy to see that their expectations were met and the shelf life of the spaetzle was increased. By delaying the products’ expiration date with about one month they are now able to expand into new markets without risking any pasta going to waste.