LOWESTOFT, ENGLAND — Butternut Box has invested in a state-of-the-art, turnkey cooling system from Starfrost, an industrial freezing and chilling equipment manufacturer, to optimize production efficiency.

Following the acquisition of a 150,000-square-foot facility to expand production, Butternut Box turned to Starfrost to install a turnkey, state-of-the-art static cooling system. The investment is expected to fuel what the company expects will be rapid growth over the next five years. Butternut Box plans to double its sales year-over-year.

"Butternut Box has recently made a large investment to implement new technology within our processing line to drive continuous growth of the business,” said Marco Attanasio, head of strategic projects at Butternut Box. “Our new spiral freezer and refrigeration plant forms part of that strategy and has assisted the business with doubling production this year. The design specification also supports our overall growth plans allowing for future expansion.”

Starfrost's Double Helix Spiral Freezer for Butternut Box. (Source: Starfrost) 

Starfrost designed, manufactured and installed a Double Helix Spiral Freezer that uses ammonia refrigeration by Star Refrigeration. The spiral freezer can freeze 4,000 kg of vacuum-packed dog food pouches per hour, nearly doubling Butternut Box’s processing capacity. The system is continuous and automated, which also helps the direct-to-consumer fresh dog food company reduce processing time and quality, Starfrost stated.

“Since the installation of our new freezing equipment, we have considerably reduced our freezing times in comparison to the static freezers that were used before and the method of freezing is consistent which has greatly improved the quality of our end product,” Attanasio said.

The system also offers a low carbon footprint. It operates in two temperature zones to reduce the total number of kilowatts required to freeze the product. This results in operational cost savings and carbon emission reductions, according to Starfrost.

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