News & Press releases

Bochum (Germany), March, 2013 – On the occasion of the trade fair Seafood Processing Europe (in Brussels, from April 23 to 25, 2013, Hall 4, Booth 4-5839), GEA Food Solutions and GEA Refrigeration Technologies will present a good number of innovations.

Weert, February 2013 - When one of its private label customers came to frozen vegetable producer d’Arta for products packaged in a Doy Style steaming bag, co-owner of d’Arta Pieter De Backere approached GEA Food Solutions to find out what was possible on the GEA SmartPacker form, fill and seal packaging machines he used. Flat-bottomed Doy Style bags stand up in glass-fronted show cases giving more visual impact to products. This was back in 2011, and although not officially available at that time, GEA had a demonstration Doy Style solution in development for a major exhibition. Mr. De Backere was so enthusiastic he bought the demo system, and it performed at even higher speeds than expected!

Düsseldorf, February 2013 - GEA Food Solutions presents developments in meat processing and packaging equipment at IFFA that help meat processors go forward to higher performance. Hygienic design and application specific solutions are recurring themes in a showing that features six product premieres and many enhancements on existing machines.

With an installed base of GEA SmartPacker vertical packaging machines that have ultrasonically sealed more than 110 million bags worldwide, GEA Food Solutions has demonstrated that its execution of the technology is consistently reliable on an industrial scale. The main feature that differentiates GEA’s solution from other vertical packaging machines with ultrasonic sealing is a unique (patent pending) technology that keeps the sealing jaws, independent on machine output, parallel to incredibly tight tolerances as they close on the film

November 2012, Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE - GEA Food Solutions took its Defrosting Seminar to the Middle East to show poultry processors from the region that the ColdSteam technology has many advantages over conventional defrosting.

As health- and marketing trends drive the switch to (poly)unsaturated oils, fried food producers face new oil management challenges, including cost and processes optimization. To address these challenges, three leaders in their fields (equipment, oils and sanitation solutions) put their heads together to show that effective oil management lies in the synergy between the oil, the filtration and the cleaning. Food fried in relatively saturated oils is no longer preferred as consumers require healthier products fried in liquid oils. However, they are less stable in industrial frying conditions.

The new CFS FreshFormer is designed specifically to provide the flexibility needed for producing smaller batches that are typical when forming fresh products. Quick changes are facilitated by the easy removal of residue material from the feed  hopper, resulting in less product give-away and a higher yield. It also uses a gentle hydraulic feed system to preserve the structure of the meat. The launch of the machine is supported by the ‘New Shape of Freshness’ action, where owners of older CFS (and Koppens) forming machines receive an attractive trade-in discount when moving up to the CFS FreshFormer.

Find CFS FreshFormer action here >>

The changes in the Board of GEA Food Solutions reflect the ambition to fully seize the opportunities the market segment of protein food offers. “The growth of the global population and the increasing demand for high quality food provide us with many opportunities to
increase our business,” says Dirk Hejnal, the new Segment President of GEA Food Solutions. “I am really looking forward to further developing our business and contributing to the strategic direction to expand the food process technology activities of the GEA Group”.

GEA Convenience-Food Technologies – freezing, frying and forming ‘firsts’ at Anuga FoodTec 2012

GEA Convenience-Food Technologies, the food process segment of the GEA Group AG, is exhibiting at Anuga FoodTec (Cologne Germany, 27 to 30 march 2012) together with all other GEA segments for the first time since joining the group. With a 1300 m2 stand – the largest at the show – it is an impressive showing with nine machines and three premieres from the company formerly known as Convenience Food Systems. These include the CFS FreshFormer for fresh meat forming, the CFS EasyFry XL high-performance fryer and the E-Tec P Freezer. This high capacity spiral freezer is a joint development with GEA Refrigeration Technologies who are also present on the GEA stand.