JBT’s A&B Process Systems helped add a key ingredient into an award-winning JM Smucker Company peanut butter and jelly sandwich production facility, with the delivery and installation of a Clean-In-Place (CIP) skid and piping at the 62-acre site in Longmont, Colorado. Recently named the 2020 Food Engineering Plant of the Year, the JM Smucker Company facility is at the forefront of booming demand for the sandwiches across the US.
Working in conjunction with the JM Smucker Company and design-build firm Dennis Group, A&B built the CIP system and installed process piping during construction of the 390,000 sq ft plant, which includes production and packaging lines for the Uncrustables product, as well as support areas and office space.
“We’re a good partner with the JM Smucker Company, so it’s gratifying to see the Longmont facility has been voted 2020 Food Engineering Plant of the Year,” says A&B Director of National Accounts, Brian Gehrke, who was closely involved with the project. “On behalf of JBT and A&B Process Systems, we would like to congratulate the JM Smucker Group for this achievement.”
According to a report in Food Engineering magazine, the plant was developed to meet soaring demand across the US for the crust-free Smucker’s Uncrustables sandwiches, now producing a total of 88 boxes – or 880 sandwiches – every minute. In fact, the product, which was first produced at JM Smucker’s Scottsville, Kentucky site in 2003, is now worth an estimated US$250 million in annual revenue; a figure which is only expected to grow over the coming years.