At the United Fresh 2010 show for food processing machinery at Las Vegas, we have released our new range of carrot processing machinery. The centre machine of this new line is the CPM-6000; a carrot peeler that uses 16 knives, each under a different angle to peel the carrot equally from all sides. When equipped with the Fast V-belt Infeed system, the machine can peel up to 6000 carrots per hour, a capacity for which we’ve experienced a growing demand from the market.

Carrots with a diameter ranging from 8 mm up till 45 mm will be peeled perfectly, without the need of water. When adjusted, the CPM-6000 can also deliver fully peeled or decorative stripped courgettes or cucumbers.

The CPM-6000 can be completed with a fully automatic infeed system at the front and a top and tail system with segmenter at the end.

In May 2010 our mechanics flew over to Lebanon for the installation of state of the art potato processing line. An ambitious local meat processor will introduce a new product in Lebanon this summer. A mixture of potato cubes with meat that will be canned for the supermarkets. This product meets the growing demand for convenience food in emerging Lebanon.

The combination of cubed potato and meat opens new market opportunities in Lebanon, as this dish, added with fresh vegetable, provides a nutritious meal that can be prepared and served in very little time.

The new product should hit the supermarkets before this coming summer.

With great pride, we have accepted the Opportunity Award last April 27, 2010. The price was handed to us by the former Minister of Economics and Commissioner to the Queen of the Netherlands, Mr. Jan Terlouw.

The Opportunity Award is an acknowledgement for production companies that produce machinery or machine components and that have excelled in their business.

The battle for the Award has been vibrant as the Union of Metal Processing Companies in the Netherlands comprises over 13.000 members/companies (employing 150.000, combined revenue Euro 20.000.000.000,-) and only 10 of them were to enter the first round of the competition.

After visits to the nominated companies by the organising committee, 3 finalists were elected, amongst which Dofra . On April 27, in a room crowded with press and fellow entrepreneurs, the 3 finalists had to present their case before a grand jury which ultimately elected Dofra Backus Foodtec the winner.

“Dofra Backus Foodtec is an example of a company that is able to generate opportunities in a difficult market. The companies innovative approach could be an example to many others” according the jury referring to the many innovative machines Dofra Backus Foodtec has developed and installed world wide in the recent years.

Receiving this award gives us a great motivation to continue our efforts in creating better machinery and serving you even better. With pride.

At the Fruit Logistica / FreshConex in Berlin we will show the working principle of our new segmenting machine for fresh vegetables and fruit, the SMM-7200. The SMM-7200 can be used to produce shaslick cubes out of halved bell peppers or can segment eggplants separating the stem and segmenting the body of the egg plant. With customised kits the machine can be adjusted for segmenting other fruits and vegetables.

The segmenting machine makes use of the CPS-technology (Continuous Processing System), as perfected by us. It has a number of significant advantages to offer in comparison with the traditional ‘start-stop’ system. Our CPS-technology results in less wear and tear of the machine, meaning reduced maintenance costs. Because the produce travels at an even pace through the machine, they are also processed more evenly. This also results in a higher processing capacity of the machine.

For more information on the SMM-7200 please contact our sales team, they can provide more details on the machine and, if you please, arrange a demonstration at our foodlab.

The Fruit Logistica trade fair is a specialist trade fair for the fresh fruit and vegetable business across the entire added-value chain, from growing to the point-of-sale. Fresh-cut Convenience.
At the trade fair we will introduce the concept of our new segmenting machine for fruit and vegetables, designed for segmenting products such as bell pepper to shaslick parts and eggplants.
We invite you to visit us and meet our new account manager for Germany and Eastern Europe; Mr. Lars Heuvelmans. Also present at our booth will be our new dealer for Eastern Europe; APH. They have specific knowledge of the potato and vegetable business and local staff and offices in many Eastern European countries.

We hope to meet you at our booth in hall 2.1, booth A-03.

Dofra Foodtec is pleased to announce the representation of Dofra Foodtec in Eastern Europe by APH. APH represents a group of first class machinery manufacturers, which offer a complete range of equipment for potato, onion and carrot production and processing.

APH covers the complete range of machinery needed for planting to processing until packing of potatoes and vegetables. Many of the staff of APH has a farming and processing background and can support you with selecting the right equipment for you needs.

As of January 1, 2009 our company name Backus Foodtec will change to Dofra Foodtec. Dofra Foodtec will become a 100% daughter of Dofra BV. Until now Dofra BV owned 50% of Backus Foodtec.

Both Peter Backus and Stef Backus will leave the company to pursue other ambitions. Dofra Foodtec will be led by Dr. Frank Verschuren and Ing. John de Groot who has been CEO of Backus Foodtec since January 1, 2008.

Dofra is a company that develops and produces agro- and food machinery since 1959 and employs over 50 employees.

This is important news to our customers, as this integration allows us to:

Increase our product development leading to new innovative machinery for your processing

Double our service staff to give even better service on machines installed world wide

Shorten our machine delivery time from our own fully utilized factory

Demonstrate new and used machinery in our Foodlab