For over 25 years since first introducing slurry ice technology to the seafood industry, Sunwell Technologies Inc. of Canada has worked with fishermen and companies in the seafood processing industry to achieve higher yields and fresher product using deepchill™ slurry ice.
A search for a better method of preservation is what led Prince Edward Aqua Farms Inc., one of the leading seafood companies in Prince Edward Island, Canada, to integrate a Sunwell, Deepchill™ System into its existing processing facilities in late 2005. The company has been processing and shipping Malpeque oysters, soft shell clams, quahogs and blue mussels to the fresh market since 1989. The pride of the company is its 'Island Gold' Cultured Mussels, 100% rope grown in the bays and inlets surrounding Prince Edward Island. Deepchill™ slurry ice is used to pack the mussels and ship them fresh to markets across North America. Jerry Bidgood, General Manager of Prince Edward Aqua Farms explains: “We wanted an ice system that was fast cooling, slow melting and more efficient than our flake ice system. Our goal was to reduce drip loss and increase shelf life by maintaining a colder core temperature, most especially during the mussel spawning season in June and July.”
Cultured mussels differ from wild or partially cultured mussels because they spend their entire life span suspended in the water column never touching the bottom or having the opportunity to pick up sand or grit and allowing for better access to the suspended particles mussels filter from the water for food. The result is a fuller mussel with a clean and attractive, shiny bluish-black shell. Before processing, shellfish are put through a flushing process that removes any impurities they may have ingested prior to arriving at the plant, ensuring they meet the highest standards for quality and freshness. A de-bearding process and a hand grading process follows this. Finally, mussels are packed by weight in mesh bags from 2lbs to 25lbs and placed in containers weighing from 10lbs to 1000lbs, according to the customers' requests.
The company takes pride in delivering a first rate product to the marketplace, and because they are harvested year round, either by boat, or ice harvesting, Island Gold Mussels are always fresh. The company relies on the deepchill™ to maintain that freshness. One Deepchill™ Variable-State Ice System can deliver ice in a complete range of ice-states: from very liquid ice slurry, to a very thick paste, and even dry (liquid free) ice crystals. The system at Prince Edward Aqua Farms uses seawater to produce as much as five tons of dry ice, or almost 10 tons of deepchill™ slurry ice per day. Deepchill™ with an ice fraction of 50-60% (ice percentage in the deepchill™) is automatically pumped to four separate locations at the facility. At the first two locations deepchill™ is discharged into 1-ton bulk containers holding 800-900lbs of mussels packed in the mesh bags.
Bidgood says, “The flake ice system required a lot of manual labour; ice had to be shovelled into every box and vat. Ice on the bottom, middle and top. This was OK but it melted quickly and didn't cool all the product quickly. The Deepchill™ System gave us an automatic method for icing that got in between every mussel in every bag, ensuring fast cooling of the entire product.” The mussels are cooled down to just above 0°C. “The deepchill™ ice is sprayed into each container and penetrates to the bottom of the container, cooling all the individual mussels very quickly”, says Bidgood. “Comments from our customers are extremely positive, and they don't wish to go back with flake ice.”
A third discharge location is found in a chill room and is used for packing mussels in waxed boxes of 50, 25 or 10lb configurations. Mesh bags of mussels are placed into the boxes and deepchill™ is discharged over and around the bags. Again, the deepchill™ flows into every space and crevice to provide ultimate contact cooling.
The final discharge station is also located in the chill room, over 150' (45m) away from the deepchill™ generators. It is used for packing both, the bulk containers and waxed boxes, as well as a re-icing station to maintain mussels that are packed on non-shipping days.
According to Sunwell, their deepchill™ ice lasts longer because it can be packed more densely making it possible to get more ice into the boxes. Bidgood notes, “Our customers tell us they can get 10 to 12 days shelf life with our mussels in deepchill™ ice. They say they can only get seven days from our competitor's product that uses other types of ice.”
He summed up his feelings stating, “Deepchill™ has helped us improve as a company, financially, and allowed us to supply consistently superior quality product that our customers recognise and keep returning for repeat orders.”
