The rise in popularity of Oat Milk

The surge in demand for oat milk and other ‘free-from’ food and beverages in recent years has expanded the offerings on supermarket and café shelves. This expansion has been a game-changer for those adopting a dairy-free diet, with non-dairy milks such as oat, almond, coconut, and soya becoming staple alternatives. The shift toward plant-based foods has largely been driven by factors such as allergies, intolerance, the quest for healthier options, and the desire to reduce environmental footprints.

In the past, these beverages weren’t readily available off-the-shelf. However, food producers have tapped into this trend, leading to a significant demand for equipment that can manufacture these alternative products to a high standard and in large volumes.

The Challenges with Oat Milk Processing

DC Norris has spent over 50 years helping food and beverage producers innovate their equipment to meet the tastes and demands of today’s consumer. One of the biggest challenges plant-based beverage producers face is replicating the desirable attributes of animal milk, such as creaminess, texture, taste, and health benefits. With different chemical compositions – fat, protein, carbohydrate, and minerals in milk versus oil bodies in plant-based products – it’s a challenge to replicate the qualities of animal milk. This process requires additional machines, steps, and additives. To meet consumer demands, ensure safety, and deliver a high-quality product, the right machinery and operational processes are crucial.

The traditional oat milk production process is a complex, multi-stage operation that can include pre-soaking oats, heating, homogenisation, adding amylase, and a holding stage, followed by a final heating to denature the amylase before cooling and filling.

Our Jet Cook is an innovative solution to the challenges of plant-based beverage production. It reduces risk factors and ensures consistent high-quality output. Jet Cook uses a patented steam system (the Jet Nozzle) that simultaneously heats, mixes, and pumps the product earning substantial energy savings while not compromising on flavour.

Investing in Jet Cook offers oat milk manufacturers a quick return on investment with a multitude of benefits, including reduced production times of up to 50%, 45-55% energy-savings, 8-10% reduction in ingredient additions like amylase and salt, reduced cleaning times and chemical usage, and less water usage.

A Real-World Example – Jet Cook Oat Milk Production

In 2019, a world-leading ambient beverage manufacturer sought our expertise to improve their grain-based beverage production. Their objectives were to match the existing product flavour, achieve a creamier mouthfeel and smoother texture, and reduce the long processing stages and times. We ran processing trials at our Product Development Kitchens in both the UK and Cape Town South Africa prior to installation, ensuring we met their requirements. The system we proposed has the capacity to produce 15,000lt p/h, increasing their throughput and reducing energy and water usage. This resulted in a return on their initial investment within just 12 months.

Jet Cook: A Quick Return on Investment

As plant-based beverage production continues to grow, investing in our Jet Cook™ or other industry-leading cooking equipment will equip your business to produce delicious, safe, high-quality products efficiently and cost-effectively.

Now that you have a better understanding of oat milk production and the cutting-edge solutions DC Norris offers, why not take the next step?

Get in touch: Our team of experts is always ready to discuss how our solutions can meet your unique needs. Contact us today for more information.

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It is time for another ‘Meet The Team! Introducing Rachel Hughes, our Office & HR Administrator. Rachel joined the company just under 2 years ago, starting as an administrator. Rachel quickly took on more responsibilities, ‘My job has evolved since joining and I now do HR tasks as well as general Admin. This could be anything from booking travel, preparing offer letters, contracts, to dealing with Recruitment Agencies. I also get involved with Purchasing, Spares and Accounts. I like to be organised and help out where and when I can – I will always try to make things easier, I also love creating a spreadsheet for things!  The best part of the job is the people – we have a really friendly team here and I love that I can come into work and be myself’.

Rachel’s interests outside of work are house renovating and spending time with friends and family.

Rachel likes getting her nails done and has a lot of tattoos, her favourite one is her cats name on her ankle.

General Manager, Sharon Owen says, “Alongside being a very caring and thoughtful person, Rachel is the most organised person I know! Nothing is too much trouble and you can guarantee any task will be completed to the highest standard.  Rachel is a great fit for the Admin team and has a very bright future ahead of her”.

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Congratulations to Dianne March for 25 Years at DC Norris today! Dianne started in 1998 working on our reception desk, then moved into technical sales where she prepares all the quotes for our customers.

DCN’s Director, Ian Jones commented, ‘Dianne is one of our longest serving employees and is a mainstay of the Sales Team at DCN.  Her attention to detail and in-depth knowledge of DCN equipment and systems means we can turn urgent and detailed proposals around in hours instead of days when required.

Dianne is a conscientious, diligent, and loyal employee who we all love to work with, she also keeps the Sales Team in-line and ensures we offer a professional approach to proposals.’

Dianne is currently enjoying a well-earned holiday in Zante!

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Sustainability is a hot topic globally as we continually look for ways to protect our environment, ensuring there are enough resources for future generations. It is essential that food and beverage manufacturers embrace sustainable food processing, address these concerns, and strike the balance between productivity and sustainability.

The Need for Sustainable Food Processing

Historically, industrial food processing has placed significant pressure on our global resources. However, as an industry, we are now more aware of these challenges and are transitioning to sustainable food processing. This shift involves producing foods on an ongoing basis without undue harm to the environment. Factors such as reducing the amount of water used and optimising energy consumption play an essential role in mitigating global warming. Similarly, limiting needless food waste is extremely important.

It is critical that Food Manufacturers make these important changes, as mass production has put a big strain on our environment. Currently, about one-third of food produced globally never gets consumed, and food waste accounts for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Consumers’ demands are now more sophisticated; they want to know the provenance of their food and that it has been produced sustainably. There has also been a significant shift over to plant-based foods as consumers aim to reduce their environmental footprints.

Innovations in Sustainable Food Processing

DC Norris is committed to developing and installing the most up-to-date environmentally friendly food processing systems. We have launched a new range of equipment and redesigned existing machinery with the specific objective to reduce carbon footprint.

Jet Cook: Energy Efficient Cooking

Scientific trials have shown that 52.5% less energy is used when cooking with DCN’s Jet Cook technology compared to conventional kettles. Manufacturers can benefit from rapid heating and huge energy savings as 99.5% of the energy is collapsed directly into the product. Less water is required for cleaning as there is zero burn-on on the vessels.

Recipe Manager Software: Minimising Waste

DCN’s Recipe Manager can be used to efficiently control DCN equipment, including Cooking Kettles, Cooling Systems, Cook Quench Chill and CIP systems, reducing the need for operator input. Getting it right the first time is now even more important to avoid wasting valuable ingredients, energy, and time. The many features and benefits ensure optimum efficiency and consistency between batches, meaning downtime and process errors are kept to a minimum.

Process and Product Development: Maximising Efficiency

We offer product and process training either on customers’ sites or in our Product Development Kitchen. This training ensures that operators are using our systems to their best potential in the most energy-saving and time-efficient way. Recipe processes will also be evaluated to ensure they are being carried out correctly with fewer wasted ingredients.

DCN has considerable experience working with plant-based food manufacturers and can help with recipe development and process training. By investing in high-quality food processing systems, customers can be confident that their equipment will last longer and achieve maximum efficiency.

A Real-World Example: Fresh Cut Foods

In 2021, we installed our new Cook Quench Chill ‘Adapt’ into Fresh Cut Foods in Nottingham, UK. This new model was developed during lockdown with the specific objective to reduce the carbon footprint for our customers.

“This was part of a project to upgrade the manufacturing capability of the facility, to accommodate the increase in product demand… The ‘Adapt’ is using a fraction of the amount of water and energy compared to our existing linear system. In addition, we have seen significant improvements in overall plant and labour productivity, through increased batch sizes, reduced cycle times (in some cases cycle times have halved), and reduced line manning.”

Chris Copestake, Chief Executive at Fresh Cut Foods

Embracing sustainable food processing

In conclusion, embracing sustainability in food processing is not just about addressing global environmental concerns, but it’s also a strategic move that ensures business longevity and customer satisfaction. By creating more efficient, sustainable systems, DC Norris is demonstrating that it’s possible to improve productivity while reducing environmental impact. To learn more about our sustainable food processing solutions, contact us today.

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DC Norris are delighted to be exhibiting next month at ProPak Asia after a few years hiatus due to COVID restrictions on travel. The premier Processing and Packaging Exhibition of Asia runs from the 14th – 17th June 2023, and is held in Bangkok’s International Trade and Exhibition Centre, Thailand.

We will be showcasing DC Norris’ award-winning Jet Process – The high-speed all-in-one in-line system which can entrain, mix, cook, sterilise and cool in a single pass. Jet Process give food manufacturers a wide range of benefits including the ability to quickly process large volumes in a small footprint.  It can also reduce energy usage, has zero burn-on and it can be operated for many hours without cleaning.

The Jet Process system can be used to replace traditional heat exchangers and combines as many as four of our JET COOK™ Units in sequence.  Each unit is individually controlled to add the required amount of heat and shear to give the desired finished product.

Jet Process is presently being used for the production of liquid food, beverage and pet food products such as condensed milk, sauces

and maheu in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.  We have recently installed a large wet pet food system in the UK.

DC Norris offer a large range of innovative processing equipment, with a recent focus on helping our customers to reduce their carbon footprint.  Our team will be on hand at Propak Asia to assist you with your enquiry and advise on how to reduce water and energy usage, as well as minimise the amount of food waste.

Register now: https://www.propakasia.com/

More about Propak Asia:

Propak Asia is the region’s number one international trade event for Food, Drink and Pharmaceutical Processing and Packaging Technology, and is a part of the ProPak series running across the globe in Myanmar, India, Philippines, Middle East & North Africa, Vietnam, and China.

This will be ProPak Asia’s 30th Anniversary – and it is truly the “Must-Attend” industry event in Asia, as quality and variety of products increase and expand, and productivity of operations and manufacturing standards are driven higher by consumer demands and new automation and technological advances.

Join us this year at Propak Asia, we look forward to welcoming you.

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Wednesday 26 April 2023 is Stop Food Waste’s 7th year – a global day of action created by Compass Group to drive awareness, and to provide solutions that address food waste.

Compass Group are asking you all to think responsibly when purchasing food.  Many restaurants, cafés and stores are offering surplus foods to customers using apps like ‘too good to go’ which helps prevent perfectly good food from being thrown in the bin.

DC Norris have made a conscious effort to support our customers in reducing food waste. We encourage our customers to take trial samples with them, or donate leftover produce to local food banks or food service business’.

What you can do to help:

Prevent food waste at the source by storing food optimally, making use of every edible part of the ingredient and planning meals ahead of time.
Inspire others to waste less and repurpose more.
Repurpose food by redistributing any surplus to your local community, or giving a second life to ingredients that most commonly go to waste.

Find out more about Stop Food Waste Day via their website – STOP FOOD WASTE DAY

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Traditionally known for their world-leading food and beverage process equipment, DC Norris are also experts in dog and cat wet pet food processing solutions.

The Company has worked hand in hand with customers to develop a variety of innovative cooking and cooling methods to give pet food manufacturers a choice depending on their desired product.

Jet Process

DCN recently launched the award-winning Jet Process System which is ideal for those manufacturers who require reduced processing times, large throughputs and high temperature sterilisation.

We look at some of the benefits of Jet Process:

High Speed & Large Throughputs

Jet Process allows the dog or cat food to reach temperatures of up to 148°C in seconds.

Powders such as gums, gels, vitamins and hydrocolloids are entrained, heated, mixed and hydrated in single figure minutes.

A recent installation required a footprint of only 120 sqm. and can produce 18,000Kgs of wet pet food per hour.

Small Footprint

With Jet Process pet food manufacturers can reduce the amount of processing vessels used. The system can cook, entrain (mix and hydrate hydrocolloids) and sterilise in a single pass removing the need for large retorts.

A traditional wet pet food system may have a large footprint and incorporate multiple jacketed or pressure vessels, emulsifiers, heat exchangers and retorts.

Low Water, Energy & Labour Costs

Jet Process removes the need for multiple vessels which have more processing stages using excess energy and increasing cost.   Large volumes of water and caustic are also needed for the vessels to clean and remove burn-on.

Jet Process can be operated by just one person, reducing the amount of labour needed.

Sous Vide for Pet Food Processing

A recent trend in the pet food industry is for bespoke fresh prepared human-grade dog and cat food, and this is where our Sous Vide Systems may be more suitable.

This unique cooking process helps to maintain nutrients and maximise flavour for happy, healthy pets.   Sous Vide dog food is vacuum sealed in air-tight plastic pouches that are cooked in water for a long period of time at a low temperature.

Sous Vide requires specialist packaging, vacuum sealing, a Cook Tank with temperature probes and controls, and appropriate chilling equipment.

Health Benefits

High temperature cooking methods often reduce the nutrients present in meats and vegetables. By lowering the cooking temperature, the sous vide cooking method ensures that foods retain as much of their nutritional value as possible.

High Yields

Sous Vide makes in virtually impossible to overcook or burn foods which dramatically increases yields. The cooking method also produces more flavourful foods without the use of added ingredients and fats as it locks in the natural juices.

Minimised Process & Labour Costs

Sous Vide cooking can be largely unsupervised, and foods cooked using this method can be cooked, chilled, stored and re-thermalized (in some applications) in the same packaging creating substantial cost savings.

DC Norris offer a variety of fully automated Sous Vide Cook Tanks for dog and cat food – contact us for further information.

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Product and Process Training is taking place in Canada this week with a customer who three years ago invested in a DCN Jet Cook system with 2 x 1000ltr Kettles, Braising Bar, In-Vessel Homogeniser and Recipe Manager Software Systems.

Our customer has multiple operations in Canada and Europe covering chilled and frozen foods in the foodservice, hospitality, hospital, and community services sectors.  With a turn-over in excess of £150m, they are a forward thinking and innovative company who are constantly redeveloping and improving their product portfolio and quality.

Recognising the need to be get the most of their equipment, they commissioned us to a week of advanced product and process training.  Their aim is to reduce their processing times and stages, whilst also improving the finished product with reduced starch and no burn-on.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

 The first product we made was a Sweet & Sour Sauce, complete with onions, peppers and pineapple.

Braising Bar used to heat up the oil, followed by the onions and garlic.
Water was added along with a percentage of the IQF vegetables.
Jet Cook was used to heat the mix from 15-80◦C in single figure minutes.
Remaining vegetables and ingredients added.

Result:

The finished product had a smooth high gloss sauce base with large vegetable particulate which still had a crunch and very good colour.

The Jet Cook method reduced the processing time and the amount of time the vegetables had to be agitated and heated.

Using a traditional Steam Jacketed Kettle, the heating process from 15-80◦C would have much longer at 15 minutes.

Starch was added at 75◦C with the Jet Cook on low shear, followed shortly after by the sugar.  This process change from the original allows the starch to maximise its hydration before the sugar takes up the excess liquid.

Beef & Barley Concentrated Soup

Result:

Using the same food processing equipment, we reduced the processing time by 30 minutes.  The final product had good viscosity, particulate integrity and colour due to the improved starch hydration.

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