Sweet success is just part of the mix for syrup processor.

Turn back the clock for a moment to the glory days of black & white TV. If you lived in the Northeast, you would have heard the advertising jingle, "I love Bosco, it's rich and chocolatey..." Families loved the way Bosco syrup turned ice cream into a sundae, transformed ice cream and milk into a shake and converted ordinary waffles into a yummy breakfast treat.

Bosco is just one of the many products made by Sea Breeze of Towaco, NJ. Since 1925, Sea Breeze has been a top manufacturer of beverage concentrates, syrups, mixers, juices and sundae toppings. The company also sells and services dispensing equipment for its beverages in the New York metropolitan area. Emblematic of its high standards, Sea Breeze has consistently won the New Jersey Restaurant Association's Best Beverage Vendor of the Year Award.

With award-winning products and a loyal and increasing customer base, keeping product quality high and increasing throughput were key requisites in searching out a larger system for processing syrups and beverages. For 25 years the company used a 300 gal./40 hp blending system that was unable to keep up with increasing demand. According to Frank Maranino, technical director at Sea Breeze, the company needed a significant upgrade to a 400 gal./60 hp unit. His choice was the Breddo Likwifier Model LOS 400, which streamlines the blending procedure and reduces mix time from batch to batch while assuring a total hydration of all solids.

Engineered by the Breddo Likwifier Division of American Ingredients, the blender is designed to dissolve solids and semisolids where time, temperature and complete hydration are important considerations. Originally built to dissolve natural gums and synthetic thickeners used in the manufacture of frozen desserts, the machine dissolves soluble solids in less than five minutes and eliminates solid "burn-on" in the vat. Typical ingredients include stabilizing gums, emulsifiers, cocoas, starches, condiments, juice concentrates, food purees and frozen products.

According to Greg Gerisch, Sea Breeze's processing operator, "The Likwifier, with its advanced mixing action, has enabled me to make a better blend in a shorter period of time than the conventional mix kettles, thus improving the blending process and making my job easier." Maranino reports using the Likwifier for blending dry powders such as cocoa and hydrocolloids into water and/or high fructose. Using the larger capacity Likwifier saves Sea Breeze about 30 percent on blend time.

According to Maranino, the Likwifier easily meets Sea Breeze's biggest blending challenge-chocolate syrup (e.g., Bosco), which doesn't contain much water as an ingredient and has a lot of solids to incorporate. Another important feature is the Likwifier's relatively low maintenance requirements-normal lubrication, belt drive maintenance and an annual replacement of the seal. Maranino plans to add a sprayball to enable CIP sanitation, which will save additional production time.

For more information:

Bill Wade, Breddo Likwifier;
800-669-4092, ext. 1108;
www.aic-breddo.com