Food hoses that lighten the load
Innovative rubber hoses crop up everywhere in the food industry. Whether used for transferring milk from farm to factory, for washing down food production areas or for filling barrels with wine, food-use hoses play a key role in the production of virtually everything we eat or drink.
“Food transfer hoses are specific to their uses,” explains Bernard Lambert, Manager of the Performance Hoses Product Group section of Trelleborg Industrial Hose, in Clermont-Ferrand, France. “There are distinctions between hoses for fat-free or low-fat products, such as milk, and hoses for products containing fat, which range from olive oil and other cooking oils to cream and require a different kind of rubber,” he explains.
Christine Dhiersat and Bernard Lambert
Ever keen to respond to the needs of the market, Trelleborg is constantly developing its hoses and 2006 saw the launch of Lactadial as an improvement to the Citerdial range for milk collection. Milk trucks can make as many as 50 milk stops per day, which is not a problem when they are equipped with automatic rollers to extend and recoil the hoses. However, many drivers are obliged to manipulate the hoses themselves, which can make for backbreaking work.
“Lactadial uses new polyesters inside the hose instead of the heavy metal reinforcements used in Citerdial,” explains Christine Dhiersat, Product Manager for performance hoses. “This not only makes it 20 percent lighter, but offers much better resistance to fatigue,” she adds. “Once people try Lactadial, they have a lot of trouble going back to the old hose,” adds Lambert. “It costs a little bit more, but feedback from our customers shows it clearly justifies spending the extra money,” he continues.
Launched in early 2007, the most recent hose developed by Trelleborg is called Vinitrell, which looks set to take the wine industry by storm. “Wineries are often narrow with many corners, and we are in direct competition here with PVC hoses, which are lighter and slide easily across the floor,” says Dhiersat.
“Vinitrell is not lighter, but has a special polymer coating enabling it to slide effortlessly across the floor,” says Lambert. The hose has been so successful that sales outstripped forecast threefold in 2007. And with wines like Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château Margaux and Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape already seeing the inside of a Vinitrell hose, Trelleborg is proud to be part of the wine industry.
- Food and beverage
- Processing