Baking & Snack - March 2019 - 30

WYANDOT SNACKS

As part of its strategic
plan, Wyandot shifted the
focus of its production
to co-manufacturing
extruded snacks.

much of the time; we may have run a couple shifts a
week," he said.
But in accordance with the strategic plan, everything
coming through the door needs a better-for-you angle to
it. "That makes our decisions easier in terms of what new
business to bring in and let go, and what equipment to
buy or retire. We've done a lot of shifting of our capabilities to focus on the best opportunities," Mr. Sarlls said.
Eventually, the company replaced its cheese crunchy line
with a Clextral twin-screw extruder to produce toddler
and organic pulse snacks. "Now that line is busy 80 to
90% of the time," he said.
Wyandot's strategy streamlines the business and maintains efficiency; it also impacts how the operation handles
its ingredients and raw materials. "There are so many different variations we're running that it doesn't really allow
us to go to a bulk system," Mr. Sarlls said. "When we did a
lot of private label, we had one formula that we could say,
'Take it or leave it.' When you're in contract manufacturing, each customer has its own preferred ingredients."
Properly managing these customer complexities is
one key to success, which is why it was so important that
Wyandot narrow down the customer list to fit a specific
profile. "Having a limited number of customers means
we can pay attention to them all, and we can give each of
them as much focused attention as possible," he noted.

Art of the process
In its 250,000-sq-ft facility that rose from the devastation
of a fire in 1996 that essentially melted the production
floor, Wyandot now houses 10 processing lines and what
seems like a never-ending row of 40 packaging lines.
In this space, Wyandot's can-do attitude is seen in
rapid motion. "I'm always amazed at how we can make
things and then live-load a truck," Mr. Sarlls said. "I love

30 Baking & Snack March 2019 / www.bakingandsnack.com

that. It's coming off the line, and then like 6 hours later,
it's leaving us. That's huge."
But in snack food manufacturing, attitude isn't
enough. To get products down the line and out the door,
Wyandot must streamline the process and equipment
to focus on the end result. The company partnered with
Clextral to install a total of three twin-screw extrusion
lines in various areas of the plant, with another set for
installation this spring. "When you get really good at a
certain type of equipment, when you develop a good relationship with the OEM, you want more of it," Mr. Sarlls
said. "When it works, you want to multiply it."
One of the first Clextral installations is still going
strong producing toddler snacks, a key piece of business
for Wyandot. To accommodate the line, the blending
station was relocated in accordance with the customer's
food safety requirements. "The customer said, 'Get the
blending out of production so we can reduce possibilities for foreign materials,' " said Mike Wells, senior vicepresident, operations. Now, ingredients are brought in
and blended in the room next door, and supersacks are
transported via forklift to all extrusion lines.
For every product, all ingredients are barcodescanned upon entering the facility. "It doesn't hit our
warehouse without printing a ticket," Mr. Wells said.
After the sacks are unloaded into a loss-in-weight
feeder, the ingredients are run through the twinscrew extrusion. "That's when all the mixing happens,"
Mr. Wells observed. Once the meal is formed, it's run
through a die - Wyandot has a full library of die shapes
for extruded products - and is cooked after being cut.
Once dried, the snacks receive a seasoning, either wateror oil-based, depending on the product.
Flexibility is key for Wyandot's extruded products as
well as its other traditional snacks like tortilla and corn

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Baking & Snack - March 2019

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