Efficient production of instant coffee in Thailand
CMYK Ltd. was established in Thailand in 2001 as the exclusive co-manufacturer for theworld’s biggest food company Nestlé and specialises in the production and packaging ofinstant coffee and tea. Right from its establishment Lindor from Dordrecht has been CMYK’sstrategic partner for the supply of mixers for the different production lines. A decisive featurefor the current production process is the use of Lindor mixers instead of the ribbon mixersoften used in Asia. The effect is a considerable reduction in the mixing time, better and fastercleaning and a better end product quality.
Improved processing
Several Lindor L1000 mixers are used for the coffee powder mixing process.These mixers can cope with a batch volume of 1000 litres or 500 kg of productand can produce around 5000 kg per hour. In addition Lindor mixers areinstalled in the production lines for other instant beverages such as ice tea. Intotal this factory in Thailand produces millions and millions kilograms of ‘3 in 1Coffee’ (instant coffee) and instant tea (ice tea, lemon tea, etc.) per year forthe Asian market. The process was optimised by CMYK in cooperation withLindor and AMH Technologies of Malaysia (the engineering company thatdesigned and built the last two lines) to be able to process eight to ten batchesper hour. This is partly possible due to a net mixing time of only two minutesper batch.
Better quality
Due to the ‘gentle touch’ mixing principle the powder particles are not damaged. As a result the endproduct is more soluble, there is less dust and the powder has better flow properties.Mr Thanakorn Thedratanawong, Managing Director and owner of CMYK, explains: “Thanks to the Lindormixers we can mix our raw materials to the optimum in a short time into a high quality instant product.With a small Lindor laboratory mixer we can try out new recipes easily and then scale them up to dailyproduction.”
The CMYK product line consists of ‘3 in 1 Coffee’, ‘Coffee Mate’ and various other Nestlé beverages. InAsia the brand name ‘3 in 1 Coffee’ refers to the three products that are combined into the end product,namely instant coffee powder, milk powder (or creamer) and sugar. Since September 2012 this type ofcoffee has also been for sale in the Netherlands under the name Nescafé 3 in 1. The target group for this‘3 in 1 coffee’ is the starting coffee drinker, who mainly prefers a mild sweet coffee. With its introductionin the Netherlands, Nestlé wants to attract new coffee drinkers.
Sustainable relation
Another important aspect is that Lindor mixers consume verylittle energy unlike ribbon and other mixers. The electrical powerconsumption is quite a bit lower and the mixing time isappreciably less. In short a sustainable, cost-saving solution.Mr Thanakorn Thedratanawong is still very satisfied with hischoice of machine and the cooperation with Lindor. He says ofthis: “In view of the high quality of equipment and machines inwhich we have every confidence, the Lindor employees are one ofthe most dedicated, supportive teams that we know. Genuinesupport is always there when needed, even though we are nowten years further on”.
