March/April 2021 - 16

FEATURE
HOGANVILLE FAMILY FARMS
 Hoganville Family Farms uses only salt and " kraut " cabbage, which is allowed to ferment naturally without the addition of vinegar.
Retort shells can be carbon or stainless
steel and both metals are prone to
corrosion in retort applications.
Barbier advised that ensuring the
integrity of the shell prior to purchase
would be a must.
" Companies must also take into
account the need to purchase a boiler
and have the water inflow and outflow
capacity required by the sterilization
process, " he said.
A 1984 vintage overpressure retort
turned up in the aftermarket. This
1,100 mm circumference three-basket
unit, originally used in test marketing
of shelf-stable products, was an
ideal size for Hoganville production
requirements in terms of capacity,
throughput and compact footprint.
Hoganville purchased it, and a family
member collected it via flatbed truck
in Mississippi and delivered it to the
Allpax plant in Louisiana, where the
retort would be refurbished.
An Allpax project manager was
assigned to the refurbishment and
16 MARCH/APR I L 2 021
kept Hoganville appraised of the status
during the four-month modernization
upgrade. The shell was sandblasted
until its stainless-steel shell gleamed
like new. Automated valves, seals,
and all the other parts were inspected
and replaced as needed. A state-ofthe-art
Rockwell Automation PLC
with Allpax FDA compliant software
was installed. The Allpax software
sequences retort operation for each
sterilization recipe and records process
data for every batch. Electronic record
keeping conforms to Food Safety
Modernization Act guidelines. This
software is identical to that found in
the largest and most advanced retort
operations in the world. Even though
used, the refurbished retort is basically
new. The family estimates it saved 50
to 60% of the cost of a comparable
new unit.
The COVID-19 pandemic set the
company back at least a year in its
automation implementation. Premade
pouches of Hoganville Family Farms
sauerkraut should be widely available
in 2022. Ramping up from 100,000
pounds of product per year to 500,000
will be made in stages. Concurrent with
the increase in production, Hoganville
will use its greater output to expand
sales through wholesale distribution.
While automation is going to take
Hoganville Family Farms to its next
level of business development, some
things will not be changing. Hoganville
will remain an intensely familyoriented
company where Ray and his
grown children will continue working
hand in hand, where the memories
of home canning and gifting jars of
sauerkraut will remain strong, and
where the natural recipe handed down
through generations will be lovingly
followed every fall following the
cabbage harvest.
- Jeff Rome is the co-owner of
Hoganville Family Farms in Olathe,
Kansas (www.hoganvillefamilyfarms.
com).

http://www.hoganvillefamilyfarms

March/April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March/April 2021