How Van Dyck Got Rid Of Their Ice Headache With The Ulti Frigo 2

March 22, 2023
Projects
Temperature Control, Ulti Frigo 2, Cold Storage, Food Processing
2 minutes

If you are looking for a delicious breakfast treat, chances are you have tried some of the products from Van Dyck Fine Foods. This Taranaki-based company produces pancakes, crepes and bellinis on an enormous scale, supplying supermarkets and food service outlets across New Zealand and Australia. The company has experienced a period of “crazy” growth in the past five years under the leadership of Natalie Innes, the chief executive of Van Dyck Fine Foods. However, with growth comes challenges, especially in maintaining the quality and safety standards of their products.

Like most food producers, making and storing these tasty products requires a lot of cold storage. Van Dyck Fine Foods has a very large set of -20 degree commercial freezers on site, where they store their raw materials and finished goods. Keeping these freezers at optimal temperature and humidity levels is crucial for maintaining product quality and safety.

However, until recently, Van Dyck Fine Foods had a major problem with their freezer doors. They were using poly panel doors with a seal and a heat trace, which were not effective at preventing ice build-up around the door frames and on the floor. This caused several issues for the company:

Ice build-up reduced traction for the forklifts that moved products in and out of the freezers, creating safety hazards for the staff.
Ice build-up increased thermal losses from the freezers, resulting in higher energy costs and lower efficiency.
Ice build-up damaged the doors themselves, requiring frequent maintenance and repairs.

That’s when Jeremy Price from Van Dyck Fine Foods reached out to us. We recommended installing two Ulti Frigo 2 doors from our range of specialist high-speed freezer doors.

“Ulti Group have always done very well for me. If I need something, they’re there to help me; they’re a phone call away at any given point; they will always answer any questions that I’ve got.” – Jeremy Price | Van Dyck Fine Foods

These doors are designed to withstand harsh freezer environments and provide superior insulation and sealing. The Ulti Frigo 2 doors have a dual curtain system with an air thermal chamber in between the two curtains. This creates an effective barrier against cold air escaping and warm air entering the freezer. The curtains are also flexible enough to absorb impacts from forklifts, and if they do get knocked out of alignment, they can be easily re-fed to get them operational again, minimising downtime in those critical freezer applications.

The results were impressive! According to Jeremy Price:

The ice build-up around the doors and on the floor has reduced exponentially since installing the Frigo 2 doors.
The thermal losses from the freezers have decreased significantly, leading to lower power bills and higher performance.
The maintenance and repair costs for the doors have dropped dramatically, as they are more durable and reliable than the previous ones.
The staff are happier with working in safer and more comfortable conditions.
The bosses are happy with seeing tangible benefits from investing in quality door solutions.

Jeremy Price is so pleased with the Ulti Frigo 2 doors that he wants to get another one installed in his facility. If you want to learn more about how we can help you optimise your cold storage space, reach out today!