SternMaid took Health Ingredients Europe as an opportunity to present its wide range of services in the field of powder handling. The company is able to process, blend and package powdered food ingredients such as vitamins and proteins, dry beverage bases or food supplements just as the customer wishes. Besides a diversity of technical options for the contract production of tailor-made ingredients, SternMaid presented its service portfolio that extends from the purchase of raw materials to co-packing.
Processing
With the aid of fluid bed technology, SternMaid is able to modify the structure of the particles and thus their behaviour in practical use to permit specific applications – to mask an odour or taste and achieve better dispersibility, to reduce the proportion of dust or to protect the product against external influences. For example, powder mixtures can be agglomerated to form tablettable premixes or permit easy dosing in beverage dispensers or for capsule applications. Process air temperatures from 20 to 130 °C make it possible to adjust the drying conditions more flexibly to the products.
Contract blending
For contract blending SternMaid has three blending lines for small and medium-size orders between 100 and 10,000 kg. Four other lines are designed for large quantities over ten tonnes; these are fully automated and capable of measuring and weighing in as many as 15 different raw materials. For highly sensitive applications such as allergen-free foods the company has a separate section of the plant with a counter-current container blending line designed to pharmaceutical standards. All the lines have a blending accuracy of up to 1:100,000 and flexible filling options.
Contract packaging
In the co-packing field SternMaid also has state-of-the-art packaging lines capable of filling both industrial and retail packs. Besides filling sacks, fibreboard boxes and FIBCs, the lines can handle cans and tubs, tubular bags and folding boxes. Early in 2016, for example, the company commissioned a packaging line for PET tubs, which makes it possible to fill tubs with a capacity of 250 to 6,000 ml, with press-on or screw lids.
