Tetra Recart® testing that
comes to you
Get a mobile test unit direct to your own site
To test products and samples in Tetra Recart® packages, you need a Tetra Recart line. But you don’t have to come to us – we can send you one of our mobile test units directly. With our mobile test unit, you can package and heat treat your products using your local raw ingredients, your kitchen, and your regular food preparation techniques – it’s as close to actual commercial production conditions as you can get. And with small or large-scale units available, and timescales to suit your schedules, it’s a practical, flexible solution that adapts to your needs.
An idea born of necessity…and convenience
Our Tetra Recart mobile testing unit is a unique solution in the food and beverage industry, and one born of necessity…and convenience. With some ingredients being extremely seasonal and difficult – or impossible – to source for our Food Development Centre (FDC) in Lund, it made sense to give you the option of processing and packaging such ingredients at your own production facilities, where sourcing is easier.
And secondly, it allows you to use your own production setup – something that’s particularly important if you have highly specialised processes or equipment. “You might have specific machines or very advanced pre-processing that are difficult to replicate,” says Kristin Borggren, the Food Development Centre Director. “So it’s much easier to set up a mobile test unit at your site, where you can use your own kitchen setup and ingredients.”
And access to such a resource has value beyond this, too – it gives you more time. “Typically, at the FDC you might book three days, or a full week,” says Borggren. “But with a mobile test unit, you can work for a much longer time – for three months, say – on refining your recipes and doing various iterations. If you have a mobile test unit for that long, you can do many more things and explore new possibilities by yourself.”
On-site facilities for hands-on experience
By using one of our mobile test units, you gain a detailed understanding of how your product works in Tetra Recart packages – as well as access to our expertise. “We would normally run the first few trials together with you over the first week or two,” adds Borggren. “That way, you understand how to use the equipment, how the system works, and what you can do with the Recart packages.” It also allows you to explore ways to customise your recipes and revitalise your brand – all without disturbing your own production, at minimal cost, and in the shortest possible time.
Indeed, so useful do our customers find these mobile test units that not only is the feedback overwhelmingly positive, they often buy the unit outright, at the end of the testing period. “After buying a full line, some customers want to keep a mobile test unit for continued recipe development until their commercial line is up and running,” says Borggren. “And having experienced the benefits for themselves, they often want to keep the unit permanently – it adds so much to their overall product development.”
Going mobile means going global
Being small means being practical and easier to send – when unpacked, the main part of the mobile test unit is designed to fit through normal-sized doors. We have several units in circulation at any one time to ensure that availability – and your desired length of testing – is not an issue. And wherever you’re based in the world, we can send a mobile test unit – and an installation team – direct to your door; we’ve installed units at the foot of Mount Kenya, in Africa, at 3,000 metres above sea level in the Andes, and at a fish factory on a small island outside Vancouver.
Small scale or large – the choice is yours
Choose our small-scale unit if you want samples to present internally, or plan to evaluate several different recipes. The mobile test unit needs a connection to steam, water, electricity, air, and, of course, a drain. On this scale, we have manual machines that form the package, which are manually filled and then returned to the machine for sealing.
Or choose our larger unit if you need hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of packages of the same products to show to customers, retailers, or tasting panels. You still prepare ingredients in your own kitchen, then form, fill, and seal in the automatic mobile test unit. This is not as big as our full-size commercial equipment, but it still has a throughput of up to 600 packages per hour.
End-to-end expertise…and recipes to die for
A mobile test unit is just the beginning of how we can help you develop and commercialise exciting new products for Tetra Recart. Thanks to years of experience and a talented team of food production experts and product development chefs, we have an extensive recipe idea book and a wealth of product experience, all of which can be called upon to make your ideas come to life.
“It’s possible to work through ideas and recipes, and do some test products, in our own kitchen at the FDC in Lund, and then we send you a mobile test unit,” says Borggren. “Then you’ll have your own recipe, created to satisfy whatever criteria you have for taste or market preference, and you can start different trials and various options with the mobile test unit in your own facilities. Whatever your needs or food journey, we’re here to help – and the mobile test unit can play a big part in that.”
