Food Engineering’s 2018 Food Plant of the Year: Kraft Heinz
Take a look at Food Engineering’s 2018 Plant of the Year—Kraft Heinz’s Davenport, IA facility!
Posted: April 9, 2018
The greenfield 382,000-sq.-ft. Kraft Heinz facility, completed by Gray Construction, is located on 70 acres in Davenport, Iowa.
Photo courtesy of Vito Palmisano
Plant Manager Rob Cubbage points out the two separate entrances for people and product separation between the raw and cooked sides.
Photo courtesy of Vito Palmisano
When shipped to the plant, raw materials are received into the refrigerated storage area.
Photo courtesy of Vito Palmisano
Turkey breasts are injected with brine and other food-safe flavorings to prepare them for processing.
Photo by Vito Palmisano.
After the turkey breasts are injected, they are macerated, with the muscle torn up to accept the flavorings and to foster protein extraction.
Photo courtesy of Vito Palmisano
The meat is vacuumed transferred via two hoses into the glycol-chilled tumblers.
Photo courtesy of Vito Palmisano
Fifteen-thousand-pound batches of meat are tumbled for up to eight hours in order to reach the flavor desired and protein extraction needed for binding.
Photo by Vito Palmisano.
To begin the Armor Inox thermal processing system, the meat is conveyed to trays and then to processing tanks where 15 layers are stacked on top of each other. A lid is then automatically put on top of the tank, and the process water is heated in stages to fully cook the meat.
Photo by Vito Palmisano.
The Armor Inox thermal processing system process is fully automated, with only a few employees supervising 22 tanks in the room.
Photo courtesy of Vito Palmisano
There are 12 slicing lines in nine separate rooms that can accommodate different-sized packages to produce the 75 SKUs the facility churns out.
Photo by Vito Palmisano.
Employees check for correct placement of the meat to ensure each packaging will have a proper seal.
Photo courtesy of Vito Palmisano
An employee visibly checks the product before it enters the secondary packaging room.
Photo by Vito Palmisano.
Deli meat packages are conveyed into the secondary packaging area, where they go through a series of inspection machines, as well as a 2D bar code scanner.
Photo by Vito Palmisano.