JBT’s Bin Scrubber: helping crack nut industry challenges

In common with other produce categories, cleanliness and food safety are paramount for the nut industry, and here JBT’s innovative solutions, including the T-Series Bin Scrubber, are proving valuable for processors and packing houses alike.

Capable of cleaning a bin every 20 seconds, the Bin Scrubber is helping nut companies respond to consumer and retail demands for greater sustainability, without compromising operation speeds.

Sustainable focus

Up until relatively recently nut producers typically used throwaway plastic liners with produce bins, but a growing focus on sustainability across the industry – and a consciousness of the need to reduce the use of plastic – has led companies to seek efficient, effective ways of cleaning bins.

Keeping bins clean is especially important when it comes to avoiding the risk of cross-contamination. The Bin Scrubber is a solution which can guarantee cleanliness while maintaining high speed throughput.

“We have been receiving a lot of interest from customers in the nut industry for our Bin Scrubber System to clean the bins that they store the nuts in and we have recently installed two for customers,” explains John Siddle, JBT’s Global Produce Line Director for Fresh Produce Technologies.

“The cleanliness of the bins is really critical because customers don’t want cross-contamination. Previously, a lot of companies used a plastic liner that went into the bins, so they didn’t have to worry about cleaning them.

“Many companies now want to move away from using plastic liners for environmental reasons, but when you do that you need a means of cleaning the bins effectively and this is where the Bin Scrubber comes in because it’s really good at that.”

Superior savings

In fact, Siddle continues, the Bin Scrubber is superior to other bin cleaning solutions thanks to its unique brush-head mechanism which mechanically removes soil in a fast, efficient process.

The system also allows customers to make savings in two key areas. Firstly, it helps make savings on plastic consumption, improving customers’s sustainability records in the process. Secondly – with a throughput of 90 bins per hour – the Bin Scrubber can save significant time and money that would previously be invested in manual cleaning.

Introducing the Bin Dryer

However, JBT engineers have also been quick to respond to individual challenges presented by customers, a prime example being a leading US nut producer who asked JBT to help solve an issue surrounding water remaining in the bins. The answer, Siddle recalls, was to invent brand-new drying equipment, which will now be available as an additional solution for Bin Scrubber customers.

“Processors in the nut industry use tall bins and they don’t have holes in them, so getting rid of the water is critical to their operation,” he says. “And finding an appropriate solution to that was just as important to our engineers.”

“One of the critical success factors the customer had was they wanted to be able to dry their bins because you don’t want to put nuts into a wet bin, so we came up with a Bin Dryer which is an add-on that goes in line after the Bin Scrubber and does a good job of taking all of the water out of the bin. This means the bins are ready to use again as soon as they come off the line.”

Pasteurization solutions

But JBT’s nut industry solutions don’t end there. The Stein JSP Jet Stream Surface Pasteurizer , (pictured above) which was jointed developed by JBT fresh produce engineers in Madera, California and JBT Protein colleagues in Sandusky, Ohio, is a steam-based solution that removes pathogens from nut surfaces, covering all varieties.

A high temperature, short dwell time pasteurization system, the JSP features gentle handling with no product surface damage, and will crucially maintain a consistent eating experience while putting safety at the forefront.