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FOOD PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
WECO Introduces PeanutTek Moisture Monitoring Tool

WECO,& a& member& of& Duravant’s& Food& PeanutTek features a series of sensors that By harnessing data about the drying pro-
Sorting&and&Handling&Solutions&group,&in= are installed in each semi/wagon to collect cess, AgTrack can reveal patterns and trends
troduces&their&PeanutTek&active&moisture& moisture data from a substantial sample size. that buying points can use to improve pro-
monitoring&system.&Eliminating&the&need& By taking instant samples from a consistent duction e#ciency. For example, buying
for&peanut&buying&points&to&take&routine& location, buying points can better achieve points can use AgTrack’s data to determine if
manual&moisture&samples&during&the&dry= repeatable success hitting their target mois- certain varieties of peanuts need more time
ing& process,& PeanutTek& takes& real=time& ture content. Buying points can program to dry than others. Buying points can also
continuous& in=shell& moisture& readings,& PeanutTek to automatically turn o" burners use data from AgTrack to identify whether
displays& current& burner& temperatures& of& when the moisture of a load reaches a set certain times of the day are ine#cient for
all&semis/wagons&and&can&automatically& point and con!gure a time delay for how drying and it’s more e"ective to wait to turn
turn& off& each& burner& once& the& moisture& long the fan should run afterward to help burners on. Additionally, AgTrack data might
reaches& a& set& point.& By& improving& the& remove remaining heat within the semi/ reveal that on hot days buying points can
monitoring& and& control& of& burners& and& wagon. PeanutTek shows up-to-date dryer simply use fans without burners to get the
enabling&buying&points&to&make&more&in= temperatures to help !ne tune gas pressure amount of heat needed for drying, further
formed& decisions,& PeanutTek& maximizes& and ensure that all burners are drying at reducing energy consumption.
SURGXFWLRQ HI¿FLHQF\ UHGXFHV ODERU UH= their maximum e#ciency and speed.
quirements,& improves& product& quality& "By collaborating closely with the peanut
DQG LQFUHDVHV SUR¿WDELOLW\ The data from sensors is sent to a central- industry, we've adapted our proven technol-
“PeanutTek transforms peanut drying op- ized computer at the facility, where the ac- ogy to solve an 80-year-old problem," said
Lightfoot. "PeanutTek has halved both labor
erations, eliminating the need for continu- tive drying process for all semis/wagons can needs and over-drying incidents. This success
ous manual sampling and improving worker be remotely monitored with WECO’s AgTrack is driving us to develop more solutions tai-
safety. Our system provides instant and con- information management system. AgTrack lored to the peanut industry's speci!c needs."
sistent moisture data while automatically enables buying points to collect, access and
controlling dryers. This not only redirects store data about each load’s entire drying PeanutTek and WECO’s other high-
employees to safer roles but also prevents cycle, as well as load numbers, semi/wagon quality sorting and moisture monitoring
over-drying, saves energy and preserves numbers, growing variety, blocks and more. solutions are available for sale and lease.
product quality," said Nick Lightfoot, Vice It provides users with in-depth graphs of WECO’s industry-leading customer ser-
President of WECO. "Drawing on our 25 years moisture and temperature curves. Data can vice organization provides installation and
of moisture monitoring expertise, we've cre- be exported to spreadsheets for record keep- start-up services, preventive maintenance,
ated a solution tailored speci!cally for pea- ing. Users can also access AgTrack remotely technology upgrades and 24/7 emergency
nut buying points." via a smart device or home computer. assistance. Circle 40 on enquiry card

GEA and Believer Meats join forces to scale up
cultivated meat production

Believer&Meats,&a& pioneer& in& the&culti= liever. The cultivated meat industry is forg-
vated&meat&industry,&has&signed&a&strate= ing a new path that has never been traveled.
gic&partnership&agreement&with&GEA,&one&
of&the&world’s&largest&suppliers&of&produc= We are thrilled to partner with GEA and are
tion&scale&equipment&and&systems&to&the& very optimistic about the future.”GEA will
food,& beverage,& and& pharmaceutical& in= develop and commission proprietary biore-
dustries.&The&partnership&focuses&on&co= actors for Believer’s cell-cultivation technol-
developing&technologies&and&processes&to& ogy, designed to achieve high cell densities
improve&the&unit&economics&and&sustain= scale operations e#ciently to make culti-
ability&of&cultivated&meat&production. vated meat more a"ordable and accessible. and yields. Central to this collaboration is
The companies will focus on optimizing Believer’s centrifuge-based perfusion and
the performance, e#ciency, and environ- “Believer is on track to overcome the big- cell media rejuvenation process for its cell
mental impact of cultivated meat produc- gest obstacles to scalability. By partnering lines, which optimizes cell performance
tion, starting with chicken and expanding with GEA – one of the world's foremost en- while saving water, nutrients, and resourc-
to other products. This collaboration will gineering and biotech equipment manu- es. This process reduces production costs by
drive advancements in bioreactor technol- facturers – we are taking the next step in
ogy, perfusion systems, and media rejuvena- innovating state-of-the-art technology and removing byproducts and enabling media
tion while reducing environmental impact process engineering capabilities needed to reuse. The companies will further collabo-
through optimized water usage, power produce cultivated meat products at the rate on process improvements, equipment
consumption, and circular economy initia- right cost,” said Gustavo Burger, CEO of Be- optimization, and scaling innovations to
tives like waste stream utilization. Together, liever. “The partnership with GEA will help
Believer and GEA aim to lower production maximize production yields e#ciently and support the large-scale production of culti-
costs, streamline technology transfer, and sustainably, which are top priorities for Be- vated meat. Circle 41 on enquiry card
Vol. 40 No. 7 27