Continuous Motion

According to Van Coppenolle, the technology in the vacuum stuffers and other machinery that make up the system isn’t new. What is unique is the patented application process in the extrusion head, and the VegaCasing. Developed by Ruitenberg, a Dutch ingredient company (now a subsidiary of Handtmann) that derives the alginate-based protein from high-quality Asian seaweed, VegaCasing is a vegetal paste that is almost sterile with a bacterial count of close to zero.

Less worrisome than other types of casings like cellulose (peel-away plastic used for hot dogs), collagen (manufactured edible tubes made with animal protein that is used to make traditional breakfast sausages) and natural, edible casings made mostly from the intestines of pork, lamb or sheep and used in fresh or European sausages, VegaCasing is currently the world leader in its class, accounting for 20 per cent of annual sausage consumption in France, home to one of the biggest sausage-consuming populations on Earth.

Now being used by food companies in more than a dozen countries worldwide – from Asia and Europe to North and South America – the ConPro system is also proving popular here in Canada. According to Van Coppenolle, the three biggest sausage-makers in Quebec, including La Fernandière, have now converted some or all of their production lines to the company’s turnkey system, which can cost as much as $1 million. And, he says, several other big sausage producers in Ontario and Western Canada have also expressed interest. “It’s not a cheap investment,” he agrees. “You have to have the volume to get a payback. But if you do have the volume, buying a fully automated, continuous system like ours that goes all day and requires no human handling – just two stuffers and a person to oversee the line – makes a lot of sense.”

Van Coppenolle says that in addition to sausage makers, the ConPro system can also be used by cheese processors to produce soft cream and semi-hard products, and in the prepared-food industry for products like macaroni and cheese. “But for the time being we’re just concentrating on the sausage industry here in Canada,” he says. “And our technology appears to be proving popular here.”

Lafontaine, for one, is certainly satisfied with his investment. In addition to almost doubling production from the 225 sausages per minute that were being made manually to around 400 now, and cutting casing costs by half, he says his company is now responding to its customers’ desire and insistence for products that are uniform in both weight and quality. “It’s a great savings,” he says. In addition to paying for itself within two years, Lafontaine says the ConPro system has quieted traditional complaints from buyers about inconsistent product volume. “It’s tough for people of different size and strength to make sausages of identical sizes,” he says. “Having an automated system takes all the guesswork out of it.” Charcutérie La Fernandière has produced beef sausages for 61 years, and now also offers pork, veal, Italian, mergese and European sausages, as well as skinless sausages, fresh meatloaf and a variety of mixed, ready-to-cook meats like ragout, ribs and blood pudding that make up 60 per cent of company sales in grocery stores across Quebec.