Food processing has undergone substantial changes over the past two decades, driven by technological advancements, consumer preferences, and global challenges.

While the key challenges that food manufacturers face have remained similar since the start of industrialization, the priority order for food processors has changed. Maximizing profit is no longer the overriding objective. Food production, including potato processing, is experiencing an unprecedented evolution. And because potato processing is often highly resource intensive and because of the large scale of its facilities, it brings unique opportunities.

Sustainability

Sustainability has become a critical component of business strategy and operations. Corporate sustainability is conducting operations and making decisions through the three “pillars” of sustainability: environmental, social, and governance (ESG). It balances short-term profitability goals and long-term negative impacts on the world outside the business while securing organizational performance and growth.

Consumers are shifting their spending toward products with ESG-related claims, so their processors are experiencing revenue growth. Today’s customers expect food processors to demonstrate sustainability improvements while improving the product’s value proposition, so equipment suppliers should support these initiatives. Additionally, customers tend to be more loyal to brands that share their values.

Industry sustainability targets have led to the development of new technologies that reduce up to 75% of freshwater consumption in potato chips.

Successful food processors bring technologies to market that maximize existing assets and support sustainability by reducing water consumption, improving energy efficiency, reducing pollution, and increasing capacity with existing assets without compromising quality.

These performance metrics are typically calculated on a per-mass (weight) basis for the finished product. For instance, there are potato chip lines that achieve >300 lb/hr finished product per gpm of freshwater consumption. (For reference, a 3,000 lb/hr fryer consumes ~10 gpm.)

Electrical and fossil fuel metrics work the same way. Increasing throughput can often help these metrics as incremental capacity can be achieved without significant increases in utility consumption. Capturing waste heat from boilers, fryers, and ovens is becoming a better investment as the cost of energy increases. Other examples are systems that operate very “cleanly,” requiring less time and utilities to sanitize. This delivers a range of both sustainability and direct business benefits.

Waste

Optimizing the capture of potato waste is another aspect of increasing processor margin. This can be accomplished by upgrading whole potatoes previously sold as animal feed into starch production. There are a wide range of other initiatives and products ranging from biofuel to fertilizer to functional ingredients in nutraceuticals and pharma products.

Food waste is a serious worldwide problem, and approximately 33% of the world’s food waste output is lost. The immense amount of waste biomass generated is generally recognized as a promising and workable alternative for future energy. Potato peel waste contains polyphenols and glycoalkaloids, molecules that are nutritionally and pharmacologically valuable and ideal for use as starting material for the manufacture of numerous bioproducts, such as biofuels, biochemicals, enzymes, and organic acids in the pharmaceutical and biosynthetic industries. This use leads to the reduction of the final wastes and the long-term growth of a circular bio-economy.

Another method of waste reduction is by minimizing pollution. The Heat and Control® KleenHeat® Heat Exchanger is a solution that combines the incineration of fryer exhaust pollutants with high-efficiency oil heating to help food processors meet emission control regulations.

Controls

Automation and computer technology have and will continue to transform the food processing industry. Control systems need to continue to evolve as well. Operator interfaces need to be intuitive, and the systems need to provide self-diagnostics for maintenance.

Other important aspects of controls are that they enable the validation of various performance metrics that the food processor is committing to and that they alert the operators and site leadership if the process is underperforming the targeted requirements. This high level of control sophistication is helping food processors to deliver value from raw material unloading through processing and into packaging and distribution.

To accomplish this, data is gathered from a wide array of sensors and operator inputs and stored for real-time process control and optimization, as well as post-processing for troubleshooting and diagnostics. Visualization and filtering of this data is a critical deliverable. Getting adequate data is usually not difficult, most food processors have experienced being overloaded with data at one time or another. The struggle lies in turning the data into actionable information. Therefore, it is important that data is gathered efficiently and summarized effectively to be most useful.

Control optimization has always been critical for the primary processes, such as fryers, dryers, and packaging, but it is now increasingly important in the various support systems, such as HVAC, wastewater, and support processes. These areas are the current focus of many of the leading food processing equipment manufacturers.