We produce
our fruit and berry products in our own facility so we can completely control
every part of the process. This is the only way we can assure our customers
that they will receive the best products available.
We welcome
you to a short tour of our plant.
Under
Construction in 1997
We
designed the plant from the beginning to produce the quality fruit products
we now make.
Finished
Plant Summer of 1997
Plant
Design
When
we started the design of the plant, we wanted to combine a facility that would
allow us to handle a variety of ripe fruits and berries gently and at the same
time process them to the highest possible modern standards of food safety and
quality.
Join
us on a quick tour of our plant as we show you how our Fruits in Light Syrup
are made.
Fruit
arrives directly from the grower or packer in boxes or totes.
We
hand pack the fruit and then send the fruit-filled jars to our FMC Pre-Vac filler.
The
FMC Pre-Vac filler does two critical things at the same time. First, it uses
a vacuum system to pull all the air out of the jar (getting all the oxygen out
of the jar is critical). Second, it replaces (under vacuum) all the air space
with a hot syrup.
The
jar is now filled with fruit and light syrup and heads for the Steamcapper.
The
capper puts the twist lid on the jar, but at the same time traps live steam
in the jar. When that steam condenses, it leaves a vacuum in the jar. This vacuum
assures that the jar will stay sealed and eliminates most of the oxyen that
might be in the head space of the jar.
The
jar is now ready to be processed (heated) in our steam pasteurizer.
The
pasteurizer is a long sealed box full of live steam. The heat in the box is
controlled electronically, as shown on the left. We can control the internal
temperature in each of four chambers to one degree. After the jars are heated
they are cooled as quickly as possible by a water shower, On the right you see
jars leaving the pasteurizer fully processed and ready to label.
The
jars are now ready to be labeled and boxed.
After
leaving the pasteurizer, the seal of each jar is tested electronically. The
jars are then labeled, given a final individual inspection, and boxed, ready
for delivery.
We
hope you enjoyed this brief tour of our plant. If you have questions, or comments,
please CONTACT US.
Click
any image on the page to see a large printable copy.
Copyright
© 2003 by Dundee Fruit Company
