GEMCO MIXING & DRYING SOLUTIONS FOR FOOD MANUFACTURERS
In the rapidly evolving food industry, innovation intersects with regulation, and companies like GEMCO are leading the way in providing sophisticated powder solutions. The food industry is diverse, and powders are integral to various applications. From enhancing flavors to ensuring convenient consumption, food powders serve multiple purposes.
GEMCO specializes in producing industrial tumble mixers and dryers, while its affiliate company, Advanced Powder Solutions (APS), focuses on contract powder manufacturing. Together, they offer comprehensive services that cater to the needs of food manufacturers.
Benefits of Tumble Mixing and Drying for Food Powders
Common powders found in the food industry that GEMCO and APS have experience with include flavors, vanilla, diabetic sugar substitutes, trail mix ingredients, energy bar ingredients, preserved fruit, dry fruit powders like cranberry and blueberry, drink mixes, protein powders, blended instant food ingredients, and sugar coloring.
Some fruit powders and Powdered Extracts (PE) present unique challenges in achieving uniformity and quality. They are commonly used in nutrient blends and powdered drink mixes respectively, but they tend to absorb moisture, resulting in lumps and poor blending properties. Blueberry powder, while is commonly used in nutrition blends, smoothies, and supplement blends, is seldom utilized in flavored drink mixes due to clumping concerns, which result in hazy, confusing, inconsistent concoctions that resemble mud. Though different, blueberry PE can cause comparable problems in flavored drink mixes, where big, agglomerated particles provide a terrible mouth feel and are not visually appealing to the end user.
Tumble mixing and drying address many of these challenges effectively. GEMCO’s equipment ensures thorough blending without compromising the integrity of delicate ingredients by subjecting the powders to a gentle tumbling motion. This process not only breaks up lumps but also promotes uniform distribution, resulting in high-quality powders suitable for various food applications.
GEMCO’s tumble dryers also excel in flavoring applications. GEMCO proved that it has capabilities for plating. While working with one of the customers, a premix comprising fructose/sugar, flavored oil, and coloring agents was successfully processed. GEMCO achieves consistent blending and distribution of these components on a material like sugar-based substrate, by using a single unit, unlike their competitors.
Advantages of GEMCO’s Technology
GEMCO’s tumble dryers offer several advantages:
- Consistency and Predictability: GEMCO’s method ensures a consistent blend, making it easy to develop formulas and standard operating procedures (SOP). The uniform material distribution is maintained due to the agitator, resulting in predictable outcomes.
- Granulated Materials: GEMCO effectively handles granulated materials like sugar and fructose. Unlike other methods, GEMCO can plate these fragile granules without breaking them.
- Agitator Advantage: The agitator plays a crucial role. It prevents clumps and uneven dispersion by ensuring a uniform substrate bed before any additional steps.
- Vacuum Dispersal: GEMCO’s ability to disperse plating materials under vacuum conditions sets them apart. This process minimizes pressure build-up and reduces procedural complexity.
Conclusion
In the competitive food powder processing industry, GEMCO is a leader, providing FDA-compliant innovative solutions to address industry-specific challenges. Through their dedication to customer satisfaction, GEMCO and its affiliated company APS continue to set new standards in tumble mixing technology, enabling food manufacturers to achieve unmatched quality and consistency in their products.
