Drum mixers for efficient production of instant coffee

CMYK Ltd. was established in Thailand in 2001 as the exclusive co-manufacturer for the world’s biggest food company Nestlé and specialises in the production and packaging of instant coffee and tea. Right from its establishment Lindor from Dordrecht has been CMYK’s strategic partner for the supply of mixers for the different production lines. A decisive feature for the current production process is the use of Lindor drum mixers instead of the ribbon mixers often used in Asia. The effect is a considerable reduction in the mixing time, better and faster cleaning and a better end product quality.

Improved processing

Several Lindor L1000 drum mixers are used for the coffee powder mixing process. These mixers can cope with a batch volume of 1000 litres or 500 kg of product and can produce around 5000 kg per hour. In addition Lindor mixers are installed in the production lines for other instant beverages such as ice tea. In total this factory in Thailand produces millions and millions kilograms of ‘3 in 1 Coffee’ (instant coffee) and instant tea (ice tea, lemon tea, etc.) per year for the Asian market. The process was optimised by CMYK in cooperation with Lindor and AMH Technologies of Malaysia (the engineering company that designed and built the last two lines) to be able to process eight to ten batches per hour. This is partly possible due to a net mixing time of only two minutes per batch.

Better quality

Due to the ‘gentle touch’ mixing principle the powder particles are not damaged. As a result the end product is more soluble, there is less dust and the powder has better flow properties.

Mr Thanakorn Thedratanawong, Managing Director and owner of CMYK, explains: “Thanks to the Lindor drum mixer we can mix our raw materials to the optimum in a short time into a high quality instant product. With a small Lindor laboratory mixer we can try out new recipes easily and then scale them up to daily production.”

The CMYK product line consists of ‘3 in 1 Coffee’, ‘Coffee Mate’ and various other Nestlé beverages. In Asia the brand name ‘3 in 1 Coffee’ refers to the three products that are combined into the end product, namely instant coffee powder, milk powder (or creamer) and sugar. Since September 2012 this type of coffee has also been for sale in the Netherlands under the name Nescafé 3 in 1. The target group for this ‘3 in 1 coffee’ is the starting coffee drinker, who mainly prefers a mild sweet coffee. With its introduction in the Netherlands, Nestlé wants to attract new coffee drinkers.

Sustainable relation

Another important aspect is that Lindor drum mixers consume very little energy unlike ribbon and other mixers. The electrical power consumption is quite a bit lower and the mixing time is appreciably less. In short a sustainable, cost-saving solution.

Mr Thanakorn Thedratanawong is still very satisfied with his choice of machine and the cooperation with Lindor. He says of this: “In view of the high quality of equipment and machines in which we have every confidence, the Lindor employees are one of the most dedicated, supportive teams that we know. Genuine support is always there when needed, even though we are now ten years further on”.