SPX Flow, a leading provider of process solutions for the nutrition, health and industrial markets, will provide its Ultra High Temperature (UHT) technology process lines to one of the Middle East's leading dairy producers.

The order comes just days after SPX Flow and SIG, a leading systems and solutions provider for aseptic packaging, announced the first-of-its-kind innovation Technology Centre in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Located at Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) in Dubai, it will stretch the value chain all the way from research and development to processing and packaging. The Technology Centre will accelerate how customers test a complete delivery solution, speeding up their time to market.

The customer, a producer of long-life milk, flavoured milk and feta cheese, will install two UHT process lines, as well as SPX Flow valves, pumps, a homogeniser, a mixer and components for plate heat exchangers.

“This is exactly what we envisioned would happen with the Technology Center,” said Gerard Lang, SPX Flow's vice president of Nutrition & Health Systems. “This new collaboration makes us a one-stop provider for a complete process solution, and companies in the Middle East have been waiting a long time for this.”

SPX Flow helped pioneer UHT development during the 1950s and 1960s. Today, the company offers a large choice of technology, ranging from low cost “express” systems to customised solutions that meet exact processing needs and specific product qualities.

UHT processes many products, such as dairy, grain, fruit, nuts and liquids, including yogurt, sauces, juices and baby food. At the Technology Centre, SPX Flow will test products, finding the right balance between optimal temperature and total processing time. This extends product shelf life while retaining the taste, texture and depth consumers expect.

One of SPX Flow's most popular UHT technologies is InfusionPlus. It holds products at high temperatures for only a short time. The UHT reaches 157-deg C, and the holding time is less than 0.1 seconds. For many competitors, the holding time often takes at least 1 second, which means the product cannot sustain temperatures as high as InfusionPlus. SPX Flow has done trials with its own equipment, and even just an extra tenth of a second meant people could taste the caramelisation. It's called the Maillard reaction, and it changes the colour of the milk while also making it taste boiled.

“Customers are quickly making reservations at the Technology Center to benchmark their recipes to see about taste and colour,” Lang said. “We expect in the next few months, the Technology Center will be fully booked.”

Meanwhile, the Technology Centre offers completely new opportunities for the F&B industry through innovative technologies, such as SPX Flow’s UHT technology, which offers processing trials that will include indirect and direct heating technology, as well as vacuum mixing systems for product mixing.

It is also home for SIG Accelerator and Sigcubator, two turnkey solutions that fast-track innovative ideas to market, offering support for existing customers and F&B start-ups that are looking at bringing the next blockbuster product to the market. From ideation and design, including recipe formulation and packaging, to piloting and promotion, the four-stage process that the centre operates under fully supports existing customers and start-ups in expediting new product and packaging development at the facility.

The SIG Technology Centre at DSO is designed to assist established F&B leaders from the region and back budding entrepreneurs looking at starting up their food and beverage businesses.