The Customer
COOK is a premium frozen ready meal producer, with a founding statement to “cook using the same ingredients and techniques as you would at home, so everything looks and tastes homemade”, a philosophy that has enabled COOK to bring innovation to the UK frozen ready meal sector.
The Requirement
COOK acquired a new site in Sittingbourne, Kent, to enable an increase in volume of its ready to cook meals. As part of the expansion project, the firm invested in freezing technology that would improve efficiency and the quality of its products. Fundamental to the project was finding a freezing system and process that maintained the quality of its ingredients and meals.
The Solution
Starfrost designed and manufactured a bespoke Helix spiral freezer system, that would effectively freeze the ready to cook meals whilst locking in the freshness and quality of the ingredients.
The compact automated freezer designed for COOK has removed the need for large rack trolleys within the production kitchens, an operational requirement for blast freezers. The new freezer also features an energy efficient design that operates with CO2 refrigeration, a long term refrigeration solution that is not subject to phase out regulations.
COOK has reduced manual labour and improved production efficiency as well seeing a range of operational benefits, including increased factory space and significantly reduced processing times.
Ben Walker, Head Of Pioneer, COOK
“We needed to upgrade from static blast freezing to a continuous freezing method to allow for the capacity expansion. Our chosen supplier had to deliver a solution that matched our expectations and requirements for quality. We selected Starfrost to help us achieve this, we felt confident the team could provide us with a bespoke solution that would fit within our business. They understood the complexities of the project and most importantly our company focus on product quality. We were pleased to partner with Starfrost and are currently working on an additional project for another spiral freezer. The spiral freezer has delivered a 50% increase in production capacity, improved product quality and created a better working environment within our production kitchens.”
COOK – Spiral freezer for ready meals
