Founded in 2017, dehydrated fruit processor Zarecki processes more than 6,000 metric tons of fresh fruit each year using locally grown produce and advanced technology to provide food manufacturers with quality ingredients for cereals, snack bars, confectionery and etc.
In 2022, while expanding production with a new line that sweetens and dehydrates different types of berries, Zarecki chose Key Technology for its integrated vibrating conveyor system with five pulse shakers.
“The fruit in this section of our new production line is as delicate as a jellyfish, so our highest priority when choosing the shakers was to protect the quality of these fragile fruits,” said Marcin Sosnicki, managing director of Zarecki. “Our new conveyor system also had to handle a wide variety of fruit—you’d be surprised how differently a cherry behaves than a blueberry, plus we handle our apple products on this line part of the year as well. Flexibility and quick turnaround were important criteria during our selection process.”
Designed for processing and packaging lines that require precision dosing and low-maintenance drives, Key’s Impulse shakers are ideal for product mixing, ingredient feeding, scale feeding and more, as they start and stop quickly, helping to product quality, productivity and line efficiency are maximized. The pulse is equipped with special solid-state controls that allow transport amplitudes to vary from 0 to 100% for superior production flexibility.
“The Key team visited us in Poland two or three times to fully understand our operations during the design process and adapt our conveyors to fit our existing layout. Then a key supervisor came out to oversee the assembly of the line, installation, commissioning and first production – we never felt like we were on our own,” said Sosnicki.
Operating at speeds of up to two metric tons of fruit per hour, Zarecki’s new line sweetens cherries, blackcurrants and blueberries with infusion cups that discharge the syrupy product into a system of channels. From there, the product passes through a series of three pulse conveyors with specialized screens that de-syrup and release the juice from the fruit. An impulse conveyor conveyor then directs the product 90 degrees around the corner and feeds an impulse spreading conveyor featuring specially designed belts that perfectly disperse the infused fruit for presentation to the dryer’s feed system.
When this line is working with apples, the product skips the de-syrup shaker and moves directly from a separate apple preparation line to the first Impulse shaker to remove the juice, as the apples are not infused.
“One impressive aspect of this integrated conveyor system is that it acts as a buffer between upstream batch processing and continuous downstream processing in the dryer, which must be constantly fed,” Sosnicki said. “And because the Impulse is equipped with electromagnetic drives, we can simply adjust the speed from the control panel when needed. This makes things easier for our operators, while helping to maintain the quality of our products and increase the efficiency of our lines.”
Impulse magnetic drives also help minimize maintenance, with no sliding or rotating parts to wear and no belts or bearings to fail. Oil-free drives help protect food safety, while rugged construction makes these conveyors ideal for 24/7 use in harsh environments. All modules are dust and moisture resistant with an IP65 rated housing to ensure years of trouble-free operation. “Durability is a required part of our processing facility to withstand our wet, hot environment and sticky, acidic products,” Sosnicki said. “Impulse fits our needs perfectly.”
