Feeding and Extrusion of Meat Substitutes

Brabender Technologie and Clextral, the French manufacturer of food extrusion equipment have operated successfully together in this market for several years.

As the global consumption of meat has soared in recent years, leading directly to a greater environmental impact, many consumers have started to seek out alternatives to meat. This growing market area brings a range of new challenges to the manufacturers of meat substitutes as they scale up their production to satisfy this increasing demand.

“Precision feeding is very important for the whole process.”

Emmanuel Lavocat, food extrusion process engineer at Clextral

The problems and challenges are discussed in depth on CITO, Brabender’s media channel.

CITO spoke with Jérôme Mottaz (JM), Head of Engineering and R&D, and Emmanuel Lavocat (EL), food extrusion process engineer, both from Clextral, about the partnership with Brabender Technologie and future market trends.

CITO: Mr. Mottaz, what role does feeding play in the manufacturing process?
JM: Industrial food production always involves absolute precision. That is why accurate feeding is very important for the whole process. All ingredients have to be metered into the extruder in precisely measured quantities. The degree of precision applied at the start of the process ultimately influences the quality of the end product. You can always rely on Brabender Technologie’s gravimetric feeders to perform with absolute precision.

CITO: How do you find the right feeder for each of your customers’ applications?
JM: In our Technical Center in Firminy, we can test the different raw materials or dry mix recipes involved in almost all food applications. Brabender Technologie has provided us with a large number of different gravimetric feeders for our test lab. This provides us with the flexibility to test the required raw materials and specific formulations on different feeders. We can always draw on Brabender Technologie’s expertise and their technical centers around the world at anytime.

CITO: What benefits do Brabender Technologie’s feeding systems provide?
EL: Food safety plays an overriding role in food manufacturing. The special Hygienic Design concept employed in Brabender Technologie’s feeders reliably meets that requirement. What we particularly value is that Hygienic Design can be adapted to meet the specific requirements of the customer – from minimum requirements to a very high sanitary standard. In addition, the feeders feature exceptional cleanability and are easy to operate.

You can read the full article by following this link: https://bt-cito.com/en/meat-substitutes/