A 6 bed extruder for Mentos
°Celsius has, in cooperation with Perfetti Van Melle Benelux BV from Breda, designed a 6 bed extruder for processing the mixture. It incorporates all the cleaning and heating options in one machine as compactly as possible.
The Mentos sweet
Mentos is a popular sweet that is sold all over the world and has been in existence since the Fifties. It is available in many flavours, the commonest being mint and mixed fruit. Mentos is known for its characteristic flavour and unique chewy texture; Mentos has a crunchy coating and a soft chewy centre.
The 6 bed extruder for Mentos filling
The Mentos production process is strictly confidential, but we are pleased to give a little peep behind the scenes on the 6 bed extruder designed. This machine was designed by °Celsius according to the requirements package of Perfetti Van Melle.
The screws in the extruder trough push the mixture through the outlet to outside in long strands. The 6 outlets are for 6 different production lines and can be operated independently. As a result it is now possible to press different flavours of mixture alongside one another.
The mixture must be kept at the right temperature. To do this water of 40 degrees passes through the twin-walled parts of the machine. The extruder trough has a Teflon coating so the mixture cannot stick to the wall.
One of the requirements of Perfetti Van Melle was for good and easy cleaning. For cleaning the whole machine is filled with water that is heated by the machine itself. The hot water soaks the trough and screws clean and then flows away with the residues via a directly connected discharge.The 6 bed extruder is very important in the Mentos production process. To reduce production losses to a minimum, the installation, conversion and test runs had to be carried out between Christmas and the New Year. With only a few days available that meant a precise delivery time and "failure no option" for °Celsius.
Perfetti Van Melle
Perfetti Van Melle is a confectionary manufacturer operating worldwide. The company was created in 2001 after the Italian Perfetti S.p.A. took over Van Melle NV, having worked with Van Melle since 1979. As a result the head offices of Perfetti Van Melle are located in Lainate in Italy and Breda in the Netherlands.
Van Melle started as a family business in the 19th century with the machine production of confectionary. As a result they quickly grew to become a real worldwide company and they still are today.
The cooperation with Van Beek/°Celsius has now been in existence for a quarter of a century! Mr John Boeren, Project Manager TD Preparation at Perfetti Van Melle talks about the latest project with the 6 bed extruder. "This is a machine that was built by °Celsius entirely in accordance with our specifications. All the rinsing and heating options have been incorporated in one machine, as compactly as possible. We had been working with the previous machine for some 20 years already and it had to be replaced. We then drew up a whole package of requirements for both the engineering, production and cleaning. Together with °Celsius, these requirements and wishes were incorporated into this unique machine. Perfect cooperation here!"
