HIGH-QUALITY CEREALS FOR PRIVATE LABELS
Kentaur AG from Lützelflüh in Emmental, Switzerland, is
specialized in the refinement of cereals for customers from all
over the world. The wide range of innovative, conventional, and
organic products, including products developed by Kentaur - from
flakes to puffed cereals, coated flakes, and pops to granules - is
produced exclusively for the private labels and offers consumers
throughout Europe and beyond a high-quality alternative to namebrand
products. About 70 percent of the products are exported.
In most cases, they come in shelf-ready packaging - folding boxes
with bags or printed stand-up pouches. For Kentaur, only the
best quality will do as international customers expect the highest
standards. This applies to everything, from the purchase of raw
materials and ingredients from selected suppliers to delivering
the finished products in the customer’s desired packaging. The
products are subject to constant testing.
“We continuously invest in optimizing our
standards. Aspects such as sustainability
and ethics are essential to us, and we see
ourselves as role models here. We succeeded
in doing this with the TOMRA 3C optical
sorting system, which we have been using
to sort puffed grain for over a year. Since the
TOMRA 3C was integrated into our line, the
number of complaints has been almost zero.”
Andreas Hebeisen, Head of the Supply Chain Department at Kentaur AG.
POWERFUL SORTING SYSTEM FOR HIGH
THROUGHPUT - 14 KILOGRAMS IN 40 SECONDS
The company uses state-of-the-art technologies for the
production of puffed grain. Spelt, oats, wheat, and even small
grains such as amaranth and quinoa are first pre-cleaned in
this process, then pre-heated and saturated with steam in a
pressurized vessel at 160 to 180°C. When the 14 bar pressure is
reached, the grains are puffed in the system’s expansion duct in
a fraction of a second. The TOMRA 3C optical sorter integrated
into the puffing line ensures careful sorting after an initial sieving
process - the product stream arrives at the sorter via a three-lane
feed. The powerful TOMRA 3C system sorts 14 kilograms of puffed
grain in just 40 seconds. It can be used for a wide variety of
grains but also vegetables and seeds. In the plant at Kentaur, the
puffed grain, which increases to up to ten times its original size
during this process, falls from the funnel onto a shaking pan and
is evenly distributed on the feed chute. High-resolution dual laser
and camera units check the puffed grain from all sides for various
parameters. Just milliseconds later, the intelligent ejection system
separates defective products and ejects them via the reject chute.
All product that passes this evaluation continues on the goodproduct
chute and is directed into big bags or a corresponding
silo, where it is later subjected to coating, e.g., with liquid sugar,
as required, or added to the final packaging.
SIZE, COLOUR OR FOREIGN BODIES – REMOVED
AS REQUIRED
“The pre-screened good products are checked for discoloration
or clumping. Our customers do not accept dark grains, e.g.,
products with husk remains or products that are overheated.”
explains Andreas Hebeisen. The system rejects products of the
wrong size or color while eliminating foreign bodies such as
stones, straw, plastic, glass, and others by using a combination
of multispectral, pulse-controlled LED lighting technology,
double-sided high-resolution RGB cameras, laser technology and
innovative TOMRA analysis software. In this way, the TOMRA 3C
ensures that cereals meet the highest food safety and quality
requirements. At Kentaur, the only additional check occurs when
the product passes through a metal detector. “The new sorting
system offers a decisive advantage: it sorts even tiny grains
extremely reliably. We also use it for amaranth and quinoa, for
example. These are tiny goods that make it difficult to separate
the black undesirable product elements from the good dark
ones. The changeover to a wide variety of products and sorting
features is straightforward and user-friendly. The entire puffing
line is looked after by just one employee,” adds the Head of the
Supply Chain Department.
TESTING AT TOMRA TEST CENTER - THE
DECISIVE FACTOR
Kentaur’s decision to acquire the TOMRA 3C was made at TOMRA
Food’s headquarters in Leuven (Belgium). Here, interested parties
can test their products with the support of TOMRA’s mechanical
engineering experts. All of the sorting machines developed by
TOMRA Food are available for testing at the company’s Test
Center in Leuven. The results of the tests are discussed and
evaluated with the engineering specialists. The tests carried
out convinced those responsible at the Swiss cereal specialist.
The results were finally confirmed with the installation and
commissioning of the system in the Lützelflüh plant. “Throughout
the entire process up to commissioning in the factory, we were
looked after by the same highly competent contact persons,
which created a lot of trust,” explains Andreas Hebeisen.
INTENSIVE USE IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC
Since installation, the production line, including the optical
sorting system at Kentaur, has been in operation around the
clock, sometimes even for several weeks without being switched
off. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the months
created an additional burden for the plant and the Kentaur team.
Andreas Hebeisen describes it thus: “Our roughly 90 employees
mastered the extraordinary situation impressively. We were very
grateful for the high demand while other industries had cause to
worry. We are particularly pleased that our machines - including
the TOMRA 3C taking on a key role - have withstood the heavy
workload.” Even with 24/7 operation, regular cleaning is a
constant requirement, especially when changing products.
If organic or gluten-free products are produced, cleaning is
particularly time-consuming and can take eight to ten hours.
TOMRA’s hygienic design, which enables the sorting system to be
cleaned quickly, is an excellent support for Kentaur employees in
implementing fast delivery times, not only at times of high stress.
ABSOLUTELY RELIABLE SORTING -
A PROFITABLE INVESTMENT
The TOMRA 3C optical sorter has been in use at cereal specialist
Kentaur for over a year. The Head of Supply Chain is delighted with
the increase in product quality:
“Compared to the previous system from
another manufacturer we are now worlds
better in sorting. The new system is so precise
that we have almost no issues. It has proven
its excellence in every respect.”
Andreas Hebeisen, Head of the Supply Chain Department at Kentaur AG.
For Andreas Hebeisen, therefore, there is no question that TOMRA
Foods will be very high on the list of possible partners should the
need arise for a new sorting system at Kentaur.