Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
Case Studies & Field Reports

Field Reports

Steam technology saves 2 million pounds of tomatoes, helps launch a new brand

By Sharon Spielman
Clayton Seaside 00

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEASIDE FARM 

Clayton Seaside 02

The Seaside Farm family used to pay contractors to dispose of 2 million pounds of tomatoes that wouldn’t last the trip to market. Rather than see the fruit go to waste, they launched a Bloody Mary mix and a variety of other custom products under the Seaside Grown label. PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEASIDE FARM 

Clayton Seaside 03

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEASIDE FARM 

Clayton Seaside 04

Seaside Farm installed a SigmaFire SF50 steam generator 50BHP from Clayton Industries to save a significant portion of their tomato crop that used to go to waste. PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEASIDE FARM

Clayton Seaside 05

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEASIDE FARM 

Clayton Seaside 00
Clayton Seaside 02
Clayton Seaside 03
Clayton Seaside 04
Clayton Seaside 05
February 26, 2021

For five generations, fruit waste had been a challenge for the Seaside Farm family, tomato growers on Saint Helena Island, S.C. More than 20 million pounds of tomatoes are harvested during a five- to six-week period each year and sold to restaurateurs and local grocers mostly along the East Coast. Until a couple of years ago, the family paid contractors to dispose of the 2 million pounds of tomatoes that wouldn’t last the trip to market.

Mac Sanders, the patriarch of the tomato harvesting family, says, “We found a way to preserve a significant portion of our crop; we hate to waste a beautiful, ripe tomato. Now we turn it into profit. Clayton Industries’ steam generator gave us the ability to process up to fifteen 400-gallon batches of flavorful tomatoes per day during peak season. Great fruit we otherwise would have thrown away, we now use for a line of new products.”

It was during harvest time a few years ago that Sanders’ nephew Ross Taylor, director of business development at Seaside, came up with a solution—Bloody Mary mix.

Recipe in hand, Taylor recruited his Uncle Mac to help design the process, facility and equipment needed for production. They’d have to work with a high volume of ripened fruit in real time during harvest—6 to 8 hours per day, from the last week of May through the first week of July. With little available land on the island, and to keep start-up costs low, they needed a space-efficient facility to suit the purpose.

Taylor specified the kettle, an Italian-made FMT-brand processing mixer-cooker for tomatoes that could heat 400 gallons in 20 minutes. Sanders’ due diligence for the right steam boiler led them to the Pack Expo International show in Chicago. After speaking with several suppliers, the Seaside Farm team zeroed in on Will Brozowski, sales engineer for Clayton Industries.

After learning what Seaside Farm wanted to accomplish, Brozowski specified the SigmaFire SF50 steam generator 50BHP. The unit’s compact size and low weight was suitable for the Seaside Farm building and meshed well with the FMT food processing equipment. 

The unit is capable of full steam pressure with a 5-minute cold start for use on demand. It generates high steam quality to prevent contamination and offers fuel efficiency to help keep operating costs low.

Due to the scale of the Seaside operation, it took just six months from meeting at the trade show to completed installation. “Clayton gave us all the timely attention to detail we hoped they would,” says Sanders.

The swift process helped the family get the new venture up and running by the following harvest, processing up to fifteen 400-gallon batches per day during peak season. “The SigmaFire SF50 steam generator could keep up with the job we needed, no problem,” says Taylor. “The operation costs are fantastic. The burn usage—propane and everything—have been nominal to the degree that we’re not sure how many times we get the tank filled. And we run it hard, six to seven days a week.”

The family launched its new Bloody Mary mix and a variety of other custom products under the Seaside Grown label. Another venture, Frogmore Bottling Company, now offers third-party private label product manufacture. “The equipment will soon pay for itself,” says Sanders.

 

KEYWORDS: beverage produce

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Sharon spielman authors

Sharon Spielman is former senior editor of Food Engineering magazine. She has more than 25 years of experience as a writer and editor for a range of trade publications, including those that cover food and beverage processing, restaurants and institutions, chefs, process heating and cooling, finishing, and package converting.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    With a CAGR of 12.07%, Bonafide Research estimates this...
    People & Industry News
  • skilled MEP worker

    Predicting Food and Beverage Manufacturing Trends for 2024

    The two words that should be kept in mind are labor and...
    Automation
    By: Derrick Teal
  • cleaning and sanitation

    The basics of cleaning and sanitation in food plants

    Sanitation maintains or restores a state of cleanliness...
    Food Safety
    By: Richard F. Stier
Subscribe For Free!
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Customer Service

More Videos

Popular Stories

Conagra Logo

Conagra Brands to Sell Chef Boyardee Brand to Hometown Food Company

Chobani groundbreaking

Chobani to Build $1.2B Manufacturing Facility in New York

conveying and packaging operations

Planning Tips for Conveying Systems and Lines

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ESSENTIAL TOPICS

Alternative ProteinAutomationCleaning/SanitationFabulous Food Plants

Food SafetyMaintenance StrategiesOEE

PackagingSustainability

Events

June 17, 2025

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ State of the Cold Chain

Kelley Rodriguez, Editor in Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, will be joined in this 60-minute webinar by industry experts to help unpack the latest research.

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

See More Products

Foodmaster.com

Related Articles

  • PowerBrands-Diablo_Shrink wrap – Clayton

    Steam technology enables California-based beverage company to expedite labeling process

    See More
  • Taco Bell meat recall

    Taco Bell recalls over 2 million pounds of seasoned beef for possible metal shavings

    See More
  • Michigan company recalls pork products for possible foreign matter contamination

    Aspen Foods recalls nearly 2 million pounds of frozen, stuffed chicken products

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • handbookfoodscience.jpg

    Handbook of Food Science and Technology 2: Food Process Engineering and Packaging

  • 3rd ed.jpg

    Food Process Engineering and Technology, 3E

  • 9781138081420.jpg

    Ultraviolet Light in Food Technology: Principles and Applications, 2nd Edition

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • December 5, 2017

    Automation & Digitalization: Give Your Food & Beverage Plant a Competitive Edge

    ON DEMAND: The world is rapidly changing and large food and beverage producers are adopting automation and digitalization technologies that give them a competitive edge, allowing them to produce more efficiently and provide insightful information for decision making. Producers who lag behind will themselves be unable to compete. Technologies that used to be optional are now required for plants that want to remain competitive in a rapidly changing, cost-competitive landscape.
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Elevate your expertise in food engineering with unparalleled insights and connections.

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Food Master
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing