For its new UK greenfield primary processing plant at Eye in Suffolk, Cranswick Poultry PLC is to join forces with Marel Poultry, who will install what is described as a state-of-the-art 15,000 birds per hour (bph) processing line.

Cranswick construction 1

Cranswick says it wants to operate the most efficient poultry process in the UK and Europe.

Cranswick aim to build one of the most advanced poultry processing plants in Europe and have now confirmed that Marel Poultry will be supplying all machinery and technology from live bird handling right through to labelling.

Cranswick says it wants to operate the most efficient poultry process in the UK and Europe, supplying fresh poultry to leading UK retailers and other customers. The business believes that Marel Poultry is well prepared and fully equipped to supply the right solutions for the project.

“We feel honoured that Cranswick has asked us to supply our most advanced technology and equipment. We are convinced that together we will build a magnificent plant,” says Arie Tulp, Sales and Marketing Director at Marel Poultry.

He added: “Cranswick management wants to achieve the highest levels of throughput with the focus on turning out premium quality products. With our latest developments and cutting edge solutions we can truly make this happen. We already have a great deal of experience with installing 15,000 bph plants and have all the necessary knowledge and expertise in house.”

Marel Poultry believe it will also help Cranswick incorporate the highest standards in animal welfare. The very latest production techniques will drive operational efficiency say the company. The process starts with ATLAS, which Marel claim is the most advanced and humane live bird handling technology in the world. Hi-tech applications such as Nuova, LineLink, RoboBatcher, SensorX and Thigh Fillet System will also be installed.

The Marel Poultry weighing and grading systems such as its SmartWeigher and IRIS will assess each product and, working closely together with Marel Innova Food Processing Software, will gather data, ensuring full traceability. With the integrated Innova solution, Cranswick plant management will be able to control, monitor and report on the real-time status of production and yield.

Arie Tulp concluded: “We have made sure that every step in the process can comfortably handle the high throughput. Cranswick will be able to process at optimum efficiency levels while at the same time keeping full control of the highest quality standards. There will be no compromises. The configuration chosen will most definitely help Cranswick become the UK’s prime processor.”

This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.