At Snijpunt B.V. in De Lier in South Holland, the barbecue season is already in full swing. The company processes 100,000 kilos of peppers and 35,000 kilos of other fresh vegetables into semi-finished products every week. A growing part of this is supplied to meat processing companies. This includes peppers or onions in large and small cubes, cored bell peppers that can be stuffed with meat, and a tomato or onion base to mix with meat.
“This is entirely in line with the developments we see in the meat industry”, managing director Mark van der Salm explains. “Consumers are increasingly demanding fresh and healthy products. Meat processing companies are responding to this, so the demand for freshly cut vegetables, to be combined directly with meat, is increasing.”
Short lines with growers
Snijpunt was established in 1998 from a bell pepper company and is part of Harvest House, a growers’ association of salads growers. This gives the company short lines of communication with growers, which contributes to the freshness and quality guarantee of its products.
In addition to meat processors, Snijpunt also supplies Northern European vegetable processors, food service suppliers, salad producers and meal manufacturers.
Diced products for the barbecue season
Snijpunt has 10 years of experience in supplying diced bell pepper and onions, size 30x30mm, in north-western Europe. “We supply two types of dices: those suitable for stacking by hand and those for stacking by machine. In the case of mechanical insertion, our focus is on the uniformity of the product, which makes it suitable for meat skewer insertion machines. This is produced customer-specifically based on the requirements of the skewer machine to avoid loss of efficiency,” explains Van der Salm. “We also produce cubes in size 10x10mm or 5x5mm that are used as ingredients for meat products, for example.”
Using residual flows
Since most vegetables have curved shapes, there is always residual product when cutting vegetable dices. “No matter how well we source the product, residual flows cannot be avoided with these production lines. However, they do offer new opportunities,” Van der Salm explains with enthusiasm. “These streams are sold as chips, for example, to be mixed with meat or in sauces.
Harvest House has been producing a tomato base, among other things, from tomato residue streams for several years. “We have now also started tests to develop a bell pepper base that will be preserved from residual flows. Together with our onion base, we have a nice mix of ingredients for hybrid meat. Several of our customers are already making use of this possibility.”
Filling quantity of cored bell peppers
Snijpunt produces cored peppers especially for meat processing companies. In this process, the bell pepper is hollowed out to be filled with rice, vegetables and/or meat.
Thanks to a unique processing method, the filling quantity can be determined to the nearest 10 grams. “We can deliver cored bell peppers in different weights so our customers can determine their desired total weight. We want to make it as easy as possible for meal producers and meat processors,” Van der Salm explains.
The goal of Snijpunt is to make the customer’s process more efficient by offering products that fits best into the production process. “The customer must be relieved of the burden in his process, in which a high efficiency in his production is important,” says Van der Salm.
For more information:
Mark van der Salm
Snijpunt
Poortcamp 29
2678 PT De Lier
m.salm@snijpunt.nl
www.snijpunt.nl