In recent years, sweet goods have proven to be a popular segment with regular growth, even through hard economic times.
According to Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery, during 2020, sweet goods like pastries, doughnuts and muffins rose in demand despite the pandemic. In fact, the industry grew 4.7 percent in the year ending April 18, 2021. At EnSight Solutions, our Likwifier division has also seen this growth continue through the entirety of 2021 and 2022 with more and more sweet good producers approaching us for icing systems.
Let’s take a closer look at icing system solutions and how Likwifier can help sweet goods processors improve and expand their lines.
Exploring Icing System Solutions
Considerations
At EnSight Solutions, our team is dedicated to helping our customers develop solutions, not just machines. To do so, we spend time on the front end talking with the customer to understand their products, processes and challenges. This helps us develop the right solution for the customer, rather than just building a machine that might be what they want, but not what will help them in the long run.
One of the first things we discuss with sweet goods manufacturers is their product. Do they make glazes or icings? While both follow a similar process, icings are more viscous than glazes and require some equipment adjustments to accommodate them. Our Likwifier line of blending/mixing solutions can process both–we use the distinction to hone in on the proper horsepower motor, tank size, system setup and impeller type.
In addition, we’ll discuss how much glaze/icing the processor wants to produce and use per hour, which affects tank sizes. We’ll also try to learn more about the cooking process, especially temperatures and times, type of applicator used and how much the organizations wants to automate the entire process.
In the end, all this information provides our sales consultants and design team the tools needed to develop a solution that fits the processor’s needs just right.
Designing a Solution
Likwifier icing systems are available in a variety of sizes and with a variety of features to meet each processor’s particular needs.
A common turn-key system could include a Likwifier blender with heating components and a scrape surface, PLC system, pump, valve control, steam control and hold tank with controls. This setup allows the processor to cook and mix the glaze/icing in the Likwifier blender and keep it at the correct temperature in a hold tank until transferring it to the applicator and onto the final product.
Our team will tailor the actual system to meet the processor’s needs. For example, some processors want to make their topping and then move it directly to the applicator, maybe because their applicator has a hold tank. In that case, we can omit the hold tank and accompanying components.
For customers who do want a hold tank, we can design it to include a scraper surface to keep product from sticking to the sides, as well as a temperature control to maintain the proper application temperature.
In addition, our team will tailor the entire solution to meet the processor’s formula. For example, a more viscous icing might require a different impeller or higher-horsepower motor. Or, maybe the formula calls for a longer cook time or different cooking temperature than the norm. Our team can design the entire system to meet each of those needs.
We can even design a system to reclaim any unused product, reducing waste in the process.
And through the entire design process, our team takes the formula, shelf life, consistency, shine and taste into consideration to ensure the final system will produce the glaze/icing the processor’s customers expect and look forward to.
Safety
While a full Likwifier system will help make a better glaze/icing more conveniently, it will also do it all more safely.
Some older icing systems rely on a large, open machine to mix the ingredients over an open flame for cooking. This is obviously not ideal and puts employees at risk.
Instead, the Likwifier icing system performs the same tasks in a closed system and without any open flame, greatly reducing injury risks. Likwifer systems also include a number of built-in safety features, such as emergency stops and locking lids.
Looking for Icing System Solutions?
At EnSight Solutions, we are confident that we can help you upgrade your sweet good process with a Likwifier icing system that will do it all, from cooking to mixing to dispensing. With our turn-key solution, you’ll be able to keep your workers safe, enhance efficiency and improve consistency.
If you’d like to learn more about how Likwifier icing system solutions can improve your sweet goods business, please contact our sales consultants.
