Hangana Seafood, Namibia, South Africa, is netting the benefits of crust freezing thanks to a contact freezer from Starfrost, UK.

A subsidiary of Ohlthaver & List Group, Hangana Seafood produces frozen hake fillets and formed hake products from fresh fish landed by its own fleet of trawlers based in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Since inception, Hangana Seafood´s vision is to “sustainably deliver quality products through continuous innovation.”

When the firm’s existing freezing process wasn’t producing seafood products that met its quality standards, Hangana Seafood explored technological advancements in freezing, turning to Starfrost to source the solution.

“We chose to work with Starfrost because of the superiority of their equipment as well as their ability to work with us, tailoring a system that was bespoke to our processes,” says Pedro Sanchez, factory manager at Hangana Seafood. “We were looking to improve the quality of our IQF products and increase the amount we produce, as our previous system bottlenecked production.

The Starfrost freezing system has completely surpassed expectations, streamlining processes within our factory. It has enabled us able to deliver consistent, quality products that we can depend upon, which to us as a business, is the most invaluable benefit we could gain from our processing equipment.

“The freezer maintains the natural shape and appearance of our IQF products, with no belt marking, providing us with high quality and yield, and enabling us to deliver a premium quality product to our customers.

The flexible design of the system gives us room to grow and increase capacity, which is vital for any business looking to the future.”

The contact freezer features a thin polyethylene film conveyor belt that passes over a refrigerated plate. This provides Hangana Seafood with what is said to be one of the fastest and hygienic freezing processes available with the lowest energy consumption.

The contact’s high-speed crust freezing technology delicately handles the firm’s skinless hake loin portion, enabling Hangana to achieve a significantly higher quality yield whilst reducing production time and increasing capacity.