On-site Planning
Installation & Commissioning
Automated & Energy Efficient
Client Name: S.B. Food Industries Co., Ltd.
Country: Kingdom of Thailand
Region: 304 Industrial Park, Prachinburi Province – a key food processing zone in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor
Core Products: Spicy fried puffs, durian?flavored puffs, tom yum rice crackers, cassava chips
Equipment Configuration: Hadof custom twin?screw continuous pre?expansion + fully automatic oil bath frying line (capacity 350kg/h, including seasoning coating system and downstream packaging integration)
Commissioning Date: Q4 2022
Thailand is a global arena for snack foods, with over 20 billion Thai baht worth of puffed snacks flowing to ASEAN, Europe, and the US annually. S.B. Company, based in Prachinburi Province, is a long?established contract manufacturer with 30 years of experience in rice crackers. Although it had a stable glutinous rice supply chain and skilled workers, its long?term OEM model for Japanese brands was yielding ever?thinner margins. The second?generation owner, Mr. Somsak, decided to create his own brand, "CRUNCH SIAM," with fried puffs as its flagship product.
During R&D and trial production, they encountered obstacles that traditional processes could not overcome:
Imbalance between texture and oil absorption: Thai consumers prefer snacks that are crispy yet light. Traditional earthen?pot fried puffs had an oil content exceeding 38%, short shelf life, and a tendency to develop rancid off?flavors, making them unsuitable for mainstream channels like 7?Eleven.
Large batch?to?batch variation from manual operation: Reliant on skilled workers for manual ingredient feeding and frying experience, different shifts produced puffs with inconsistent color and crispness, failing to meet the audit standards of large supermarket chains.
Adhesion of strong flavors like durian: The seasoning powder for Thailand's signature durian puffs contains high sugar content, easily sticking to conveyor belts and frying mesh belts. Cleaning was required every two hours, severely reducing efficiency.
Mr. Somsak visited food machinery exhibitions in Germany and Japan before finally focusing on Hadof. What we provided was not a standard line, but an industrial fried puff line specifically designed for "tropical ingredients + strong Southeast Asian flavors."
1. Twin?Screw Continuous Pre?Expansion System – Eliminating High Oil Absorption
Thai local glutinous rice and cassava flour have high moisture content, which leads to hard centers if fried directly. We designed a pre?drying + pre?expansion twin?screw section: before entering the fryer, the puff blanks are first dried with hot air to reduce surface moisture to 15%, forming a thin crust. During frying, rapid moisture vaporization creates uniform air cells, reducing oil absorption from the traditional 38% to 22% while increasing crispness by 50%.
2. Self?Cleaning Anti?Stick Oil Bath Mesh Belt – Tackling Durian and Sweet Chili Paste
To handle sticky seasonings such as durian and sweet chili, we added an online high?pressure steam cleaning device after the frying section. Each time the mesh belt rotates, it passes through steam nozzles and brush rolls for automatic cleaning, instantly dissolving seasoning powder and sugar residues. This completely solved the problem of adhesion and carbon buildup, extending continuous production time from 2 hours to 72 hours.
3. Modular Seasoning and Quick Changeover – Catering to Southeast Asia's Diverse Flavors
The Thai market demands over a dozen flavors including tom yum, green curry, durian, and roasted coconut. The line is equipped with a dual?drum continuous seasoning machine and quick?cleaning interfaces. Changing flavors takes only 8 minutes of water rinsing plus hot air drying, ensuring zero cross?contamination of seasoning powders. During the 2023 Songkran festival, S.B. Company used this line to simultaneously fulfill orders from three convenience store chains for both durian puffs and Thai?style spicy puffs.
4. Palm Oil Constant?Temperature Filtration System – Adapting to Tropical Heat and Humidity
Given Thailand's year?round temperatures above 35°C, we reinforced the fryer's oil cooling circulation system and added a dual?stage filter at the bottom of the oil tank to prevent rapid increase in free fatty acids. Even during the rainy season (April–September), the oil's TAT value remains stable below 2.0, and oil consumption is 25% lower than comparable equipment.
Capacity and Quality Leap
Daily capacity: Increased from 600 kg/day in the manual workshop to a stable 7.5 tons/day (three shifts), running continuously for 30 days without quality fluctuations. Total production in 2023 exceeded 2,200 tons, with the own?brand share rising from 0 to 70%.
Channel Breakthrough
The reduced oil content and fully enclosed stainless steel production environment helped S.B. Company pass BRCGS certification and become a supplier to the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP). CRUNCH SIAM puffs are now available in 2,400 7?Eleven stores across Thailand and are exported to Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
Economic Benefits
Return on Investment: Mr. Somsak stated: "The manual frying line required 25 people per shift; now the entire line operates with just four. We save 4.2 million Thai baht annually in labor costs alone. Combined with lower oil consumption and higher yield, the actual payback period was under 18 months."
Product Premium: The uniform color and crispness achieved through automation allow the own?brand product to be priced 65% higher than traditional bulk puffs, yet it remains in high demand.
"Hadof's equipment taught us that true industrialization means not losing the Thai taste, but transforming strong flavors like durian and tom yum into international standards. Now my puffs can proudly carry the label 'Made in Thailand' and sit on shelves in Tokyo and Seoul."
—— Somsak Srisai, General Manager, S.B. Food Industries Co., Ltd.
