Baking&Snack - August 2012 - 49

TRENDS

FORMULATION

EQUIPMENT

OPERATIONS

SPECIAL REPORT

find our level of experience in a lot of tortilla plants,” Mr. Irvin said. By pulling together, Mexican Original’s three tortilla plants also can best serve large national accounts. “A lot of companies have one or two lines; we have 31 tortilla press lines,” Mr. Irvin said. “If you want to go to one company and get a product that is going to be the same across your entire system, there are only a couple of us of this size and magnitude that can service a national account like we can.” To ensure products from its three tortilla facilities have similar qualities, Mexican Original performs regular cuttings where it compares and evaluates products from each of the plants, Mr. Irvin said.

ago is the plant’s newest complete line. It includes a presheeter, sheeter, oven, cooling conveyor and stacker. This side also features three Heat and Control taco shell lines, equipped with sheeters, die cutters, ovens and fryers. At the end of each line, a plant-designed aligner conveyor races shells lifted from the fryer down the metal slides to the packaging area. Automated conveyors stack and count the shells that are then hand-packed into corrugated boxes. Overall, the plant has nine packaging

lines and nearly 16,000 sq ft dedicated to packaging operations. Since Baking & Snack’s visit to the Portland plant in mid-May, Mexican Original added seasoning capabilities to two of the taco shell lines. It previously installed similar technology during a $7 million renovation at its Fayetteville plant completed earlier this year that included two new taco shell lines with seasoning capabilities. The company partnered with a large quick-service restaurant chain to develop these products, and confidentiality

Tyson at a glance

Production bases loaded
With 14 lines, the Portland plant’s processing space, which covers approximately 33,000 sq ft, leaves little room to swing a bat. A maintenance shop splits processing into two distinct areas — one for producing flour tortillas, wraps and flatbreads and another for making corn products such as baked and pre-fried chips, as well as tortillas and taco shells. A J.C. Ford baked corn tortilla system installed less than two years

Founded in 1935 with its roots firmly planted poultry operations, Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, AR, today is the second-largest food production company in the Fortune 500. It’s a major player in a variety of proteins, including chicken, beef and pork, as well as prepared foods. In fiscal 2011, the company earned sales of $32.3 billion, and it employed 115,000 team members. Beef represents the company’s largest complex currently, with 2011 sales topping $13.3 billion. The company’s poultry business accounted for another $11 billion in sales, and its pork complex sold $4.6 billion in fiscal 2011. Mexican Original, which represented Tyson’s first major acquisition in the food industry outside poultry, falls within the company’s $3.2 billion Prepared Foods division. And while Tyson operates three tortilla plants as part of its Mexican Original complex, a fourth plant in Green Bay, WI, also falls under this group’s umbrella. That plant makes a product that some may consider similar to tortillas: pizza shells.

Pizza/Pita Line
From 900 Kg to 4,5 Tons

Double Action Oven

At your disposal : a test bakery of 3 000 m2 / 4 automatic baking lines
Booth B2.170
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August 2012 / Baking & Snack / 49

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Baking&Snack - August 2012

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