Beverage Blending

Product blending is preformed in a climate-controlled room. We use stainless steel refrigerated tanks with top mounted mixers to blend many different drinks. We use automated batching equipment to ensure ingredients are added accurately.

Ingredients are received in totes, drums, food grade tankers and bins. Our food grade product handling equipment transfers all ingredients safely into our refrigerated product holding tanks. The ingredients are then carefully transferred using metering devices to our blending tanks to ensure precise and consistent blends are produced.

Product Pasteurization/CIP

All product bottled at our facility is first pasteurized in our state of the art process room. Housed in this climate-controlled room is our fully automated HTST Pasteurizer. Our pasteurizer is PLC controlled and operated by an HMI. The pasteurizer is programmed to detect any temperature, pressure, flow or conductivity issues and will instantly alarm and react to preserve product integrity. The program allows for wide veriation of temperature plattforms to properly heat products to their optimal temperatures. With the use of product regeneration we are able to efficiently operate this unit. With the triple tube cooling section we are able to chill product down to 33 degrees for cold fill products. 

Also housed in this state of the art process room is a fully automate Clean In Place [CIP] system. This PLC controlled system is used to clean our tanks and bottle fillers. This system is programmed to monitor times, temperatures, pressures, flows and chemical concentrations. This system also has a sterilization componant that allows us to sterilize our equipment with heat or chemical.  

Bottle Filling

Our bottle filling equipment is housed in a temperature controlled room with a HEPPA/UV Filtered forced air system. This room also known as a "Clean Room" is lined with insulated food grade panels to prevent airborne contamination. Our sanitary bottle fillers are used to fill containers sized from 8oz to 128oz. Our capping equipment can apply closures from 38mm to 43mm. Each filler is capable of filling up to 100 bottles per minute.

Also housed in this Clean Room is a bottle rinser. Our bottle rinser like most others inverts the bottles and sprays cleaning solutions into each bottle just prior to filling to ensure the bottles are clean and safe to use.

A QA technician is present at all times to inspect each bottle after filling. The QA technician checks chemical concentrations in the bottle rinser and fill weights to ensure the bottles are filled to the appropriate levels.

Packaging



Our packaging systems are equipped to handle a wide variety of bottles and corrugated boxed. Empty bottles, are introduced to the process in bulk packages and are placed into one of two of our bottle un-scramblers. The un-scramblers stand each bottle upright and if needed orient the bottles in the same direction.  Bottles are then coded with ink-jet coders and labeled with one of two state of the art pressure sensitive labelers. Each labeler is capable of applying labels to both the front and back sides of each bottle and if required can wrap a label onto round containers. Our box erectors automatically fold and glue boxes prior to filling them with filled bottles. The filled bottles are then dropped into boxes automatically with our automatic case packers. We use high resolution ink-jet coders to apply codes and brand logo's to each case. The cases are then stacked on to pallets and wrapped with stretch film to secure the load.

Logistics

Our logistics operations manage all incoming and outgoing shipments at the FreshCo facility. Processing, production and raw materials are scheduled daily based on production requirements. Outgoing shipments are scheduled for loading finished case goods on to refrigerated box trailers and are delivered to retail distribution centers across the United States. Pick-ups are scheduled Monday thru Friday 0800 -1600 for customers that transport their own products.

Our current distribution ships to many of the major centers like; Publix, Wal-Mart, Kroger, Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, Ingles, Harris Teeter, Win-Dixie, and many more....