By Carlos Fernandez, EVP Customer Sustainability & Market Development
The past few months have brought continued momentum for JBT Diversified Food & Health as we continue to prove our added value as a leading technology solutions provider, with a dedicated focus on sustainability. To reflect JBT’s commitment to Sustainability, I am thrilled to be stepping into a new role at JBT as the Executive Vice President of Customer Sustainability and Market Development. Moving forward, I will continue to partner with our customers to support their strategy and sustainability goals while enhancing new products and end-market development growth opportunities. I look forward to continuing to ensure our customers have the right technology and solutions to meet the evolving demands of the food & beverage industry and achieve their sustainability goals.
Furthermore, this month, we announced that Bevcorp has joined the JBT family of brands, allowing for meaningful cross-selling and future growth opportunities in both food and beverage. JBT also announced multiple new product developments across our filling and preservation, processing, and packaging product lines that create new efficiency and sustainability opportunities for our customers.
On the heels of Climate Week 2022, innovative technologies that transform the way food is produced, managed, and distributed, are key to a more sustainable future. Learn more about the new business growth, recognition, sustainable technology advancements, and value that JBT Diversified Food & Health has recently added to the marketplace:
Bevcorp Acquisition
On September 1, JBT completed the acquisition of Bevcorp, a leading provider of equipment and aftermarket support for the beverage processing and packaging market in the United States. The business provides core technology solutions in blending, handling, filling, and closing to a range of diverse customers in high-value segments of the beverage market, including carbonated soft drinks, seltzers, carbonated water, energy drinks, and ready-to-drink alcoholic blends. Additionally, the business’ unique process know-how and service culture provide a resilient mix of rebuilds, aftermarket parts, and services, creating additional sustainability value for customers. By integrating Bevcorp into the JBT family of brands and leveraging our global sales and service network, we can also expand Bevcorp’s international growth opportunities. Additionally, JBT’s existing strength in non-carbonated beverage and food processing creates cross selling synergies with Bevcorp.
JBT’s Proseal Wins AgTech Breakthrough Award
JBT’s Proseal was selected as the AgTech Breakthrough Awards’ FoodTech Equipment of the Year, recognizing its innovative solutions that support customers’ commitments to reduce plastic packaging. As part of the JBT family, we are proud of Proseal’s accomplishments as a key driver of sustainability for its customers and as a top FoodTech solution for the industry. Proseal designs and manufactures high quality tray sealing machines, conveyor systems and sealing tools to package foods such as ready meals, ready-to-cook dishes, meat, poultry, fish, fruit, vegetables, salads, and sandwiches. Proseal’s advanced technology is trusted by global food organizations that are packaging at significantly high volumes and extending shelf life, which results in the delivery of products in the freshest state possible to the consumer. For every 1 million trays sealed with Proseal equipment, up to 10 tons of plastic are saved. And overall, 16% of JBT’s environmentally beneficial product revenue contributes to packaging waste reduction.
JBT’s PLF International’s PLF VGS™
September 8 marked the launch of PLF International’s all-new PLF VGS™ vacuum gassing seamer, an exceedingly sustainable gassing solution that provides an innovative new approach. PLF VGS™ is the optimal slow-speed application technology for modified atmosphere packaging of infant formula and special medical formula powders. We are proud of the PLF International team for providing the safest and most effective technology to their customers through the addition of PLF VGS™. The production of safe, high quality infant formula is critical, and PLF International continues to exceed expectations in the development of the safest, most hygienic technology available to processors today.
FVPGrow™
JBT also recently launched its FVPGrow™ solution, which is specifically designed for juice and purée processing customers in need of smaller-sized, versatile machinery to implement across their production lines. The FVPGrow™ separates seeds, skins, and extraneous particulate material to produce a liquid or semi-liquid product out of various fruits and vegetables. It offers continuous, hygienic juice extraction at up to one ton per hour, depending on the raw product, and minimizes product loss to maximize overall yield. This feature not only helps our customers’ bottom line, but also addresses food waste, an issue that contributes to two of our biggest global challenges — hunger and climate change.
Chopper/Blender SE
JBT’s Chopper/Blender SE technology rapidly reduces frozen product into a palpable condition for juice and purée production. The equipment’s hot water and heating jackets, combined with a unique, heavy-duty blade, allow the product to reach a flowable state quickly. Furthermore, the frozen juice drum processing rate of the Chopper/Blender SE is four drums per hour, which enables customers to process products almost immediately from the cold room and ultimately reduce their carbon footprint by cutting electricity costs that come with products sitting in refrigerators or chillers for an extended amount of time.