Unifrost Significantly Lowers Cost of Ownership with Intralox Belts

In the abrasive process of vegetable washing, Intralox delivers a low-maintenance, robust conveyance solution to Unifrost’s conveyor belt problems.

Background

Unifrost is the largest production plant of Dujardin Foods, one of Europe’s leading producers of frozen vegetables, herbs, ingredients, and ready-made meals. Located in Ardooie, Belgium, Unifrost processes a large variety of northern European vegetables, including spinach, cabbage, leeks, and sprouts.

Problem

In the Unifrost processing facility, leafy produce is cleaned two to three times in paddle washers. Vegetables are first immersed in water basins and then tumbled to remove dust, earth, and pesticides. An outfeed conveyor belt carries product out of the water basin. Due to the abrasive nature of this application, Unifrost suffered from short belt life, high preventive maintenance, and belt contamination issues with stainless steel belts and other modular plastic belts with plastic rods.

Solution

Over the past five years, Unifrost has replaced outfeed conveyor belting on eight paddle washers with Intralox’s abrasion-resistant belting solution. The robust belts excel in dewatering applications and provide durable, easy-to-repair solutions that eliminate slippage and mistracking problems.

Results

Unifrost has experienced positive results since installing Intralox belts on their paddle washers. Intralox belts last two to three years longer than their previous belts, require significantly less maintenance, provide less potential for product contamination, and deliver a 40% lower cost of ownership.

Luc Bouckaert, Head of Technical Services at Unifrost, reports on the minimal amount of maintenance required by Intralox belts: “Normally, during the season, they never have to touch the belt, which is fantastic for us.”