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
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The greenfield 382,000-sq.-ft. Kraft Heinz facility, completed by Gray Construction, is located on 70 acres in Davenport, Iowa.
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Plant Manager Rob Cubbage points out the two separate entrances for people and product separation between the raw and cooked sides.
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When shipped to the plant, raw materials are received into the refrigerated storage area.
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Turkey breasts are injected with brine and other food-safe flavorings to prepare them for processing.
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After the turkey breasts are injected, they are macerated, with the muscle torn up to accept the flavorings and to foster protein extraction.
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The meat is vacuumed transferred via two hoses into the glycol-chilled tumblers.
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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.
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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.
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The Armor Inox thermal processing system process is fully automated, with only a few employees supervising 22 tanks in the room.
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There are 12 slicing lines in nine separate rooms that can accommodate different-sized packages to produce the 75 SKUs the facility churns out.
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An employee visibly checks the product before it enters the secondary packaging room.
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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.