Supagas has built a reputation as experts in extending product shelf life through gas composition.

Industrial gas helps companies expand their reach

Food-grade gas has become critical in the manufacturing of food and beverages – especially when it comes to extending shelf life. Food & Beverage Industry News explains why.

Industrial gas plays a critical role in the manufacturing of food and beverages, helping to keep food fresher for longer, which in turn creates a better value proposition for a manufacturer.

One company that specialises in these gases is Supagas, a company that has worked in this space since its inception in 1968 and continues to work with a range of food and beverage manufacturers.

George Elhlou, national specialty gases manager at Supagas, said the company incorporates all specialised gas applications across the industry on the back of continued development in the space.

“We are talking about applications which are scientific based,” said Elhlou, “such as research and development at universities and research facilities, and we also look after Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) for food.”

MAP keeps food fresher for longer by sealing the product in its packaging with a gas mix that slows the decaying process.

“A lot of products without Modified Atmosphere Packaging will obviously spoil quicker due to oxygen degradation.

“It’s not one approach fits all. But MAP tends to be a combination of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen mixtures, and each product determines the mixture of gases needed,” said Elhlou.

MAP machines are used to flush oxygen out of packaging and inject the required pure gas or mixture before sealing, ensuring a longer shelf life and in turn giving a manufacturer the opportunity to look at markets further abroad.

Each product’s gas composition is worked out between Supagas and its clients prior to its application, with Supagas ensuring the mix is the best possible solution.

“These are specific food packaging machines and there are different types and designs for different products,” said Elhlou.

“The most common machine for this is tray sealing, but it could be in any form.

“A bag of potato chips is a great example. Typically, they will most likely get flushed with pure nitrogen, expelling the oxygen, which is what makes it spoil.”

However, red meat, for example, requires some level of oxygen in its MAP.

This method means the product remains pleasing to the consumer’s eye and mitigates the risk of the product not selling prior to its expiry dates.

As critical as industrial gases are in the production process, the evolution of the technology has not required much updating over the years.

“Nitrogen and carbon dioxide are the dominant gases used. It’s aboutensuring we do enough experimental work with the client to determine what is the most efficient mixture for their product.”

Meanwhile, David Petroff, national industrial bulk manager at Supagas, said customers contacted Supagas not just for its expertise in gas applications but also for its ability to help the companies grow.

“One of our critical roles is to work with them to pick the best type of solution for them,” he said.

“If you can imagine a customer has an idea of what they want but we help them sharpen the focus onto what will work best for them.

“The concept of small, medium and large customers is very important to be able to pick the appropriate size of tanks, for example, or packages they use, to do gas flushing, tray sealing, mat packaging, carbonation and so forth.”

Supagas also supports companies of any size, from small to large manufacturers, while also helping clients when the product gains a high level of success.

“Some customers start off much smaller. For example, we have a beverage client that started off in a small shed. It’s important you don’t offer a bulk system to someone who has just started out,” said Petroff.

“Instead, we supplied the client with smaller carbon dioxide cylinders to help with the carbonation process.”

Petroff said the client’s product became ‘wildly successful’ in the market and as a result the company moved to a larger factory and contacted Supagas to help them figure out what new gas applications and mixes would be needed for expansion.

“We supplied them with larger cylinders and their maturity grew as they became more successful with their drinks, so they needed more production lines, hence the need for bulk tanks,” said Petroff.

“It’s important that you size

Supagas works with manufacturers of all sizes across the food and beverage industry and supports growth when needed.

Supagas has seen companies start small and experience organic growth through correct packaging and gas solutions.

something that not only suits the client’s budget, but also what they are trying to achieve. But then you might get to a point where cylinders aren’t efficient or appropriate for the output and that’s where bulk systems come into the equation.”

On the flip side of the coin, some Supagas clients have remained the same size by choice and the gas experts work with them to make sure they always have the most efficient gas applications available.

“There are small to medium enterprises who want to stay at that size and are reluctant to grow into something that isn’t manageable, so our job is to help make sure they are competitive in the market,” said Petroff.

“We have to be mindful of the customer’s efficiency for their business; that is one of the primary reason’s clients come to us.”

Petroff said, until recently, there wasn’t always a strong emphasis on the shelf life of food and beverage products, but globalisation and more export markets means this feature is critical for companies looking to expand its’ products into foreign markets.

“As a consumer you want something that looks and is fresh,” he said. “When things like meat or potato chips, for example, are being packaged and distributed domestically, it isn’t so critical.

“But if any company wants to export something then shelf life needs to be extended to six or even 12 months because it may not get on the shelf for three months.”

Petroff said it was all about making sure the product remained in the best possible condition to entice consumers and mitigate the risk of product recalls when a product is out of date or spoiled.

“There has always been some confusion in the market about use-by dates and best-before dates,” said Petroff.

“Use-by dates are generally about when the product is expected to spoil such as becoming mouldy and so on. After that date it may be unsafe to consume. Whereas best before is more about a recommended time but if you miss it, the food is still safe to eat as long as it isn’t damaged, deteriorated or perished.”

The use-by and best-before dates are calculated by the manufacturer after a series of trials and experiments to determine the best window of time for a product to remain viable on the shelf.

“This is crucial in being able to understand the shelf life of the product, because no one wants a recall, so they need to be pretty spot on with those dates,” said Petroff.

“It’s about how much gas flushing they need to do before sealing, so that’s where we come in to help them come up with the best gas mixture for them. And we do this across multiple sectors to help companies make sure their product meets customer expectations.”

Elhlou highlighted the rapidly growing ready-meals market, where further growth is expected in the coming years.

Petroff believes the COVID-19 pandemic, and advancements in packaging, have played key roles in the growth of the ready meals market.

“The trick for ready meals is keeping them fresh in pack for as long as possible by freezing them or packaging them. Some meals are ready to cook or ready to eat without cooking,” he said.

“These days, when these meals are packaged and frozen, they are snap frozen and everything gets locked in, but ready-to-eat meals have a much shorter shelf life.

“The gas helps preserve the food as long as possible without freezing.”

Petroff said companies in the ready meals space were ideally placed to go from starting small to organic growth by improving efficiency in packaging.

The same concept rings true across the food and beverage sector. Extending product shelf life through the correct application of industrial gases and packaging brings with it a range of positive outcomes. F