Lab & yield trials
Catalogue yields don't make a business plan. We define a test protocol on your real raw material, measure the mass balance, yield and finished-product specification, and use those figures to size the line, the quotation and the financial plan.
The mass balance starts from your batch: the finished-product tonnes in the plan become defensible.
Achievable viscosity, °Brix and colour are decided in the trial, not at start-up with the campaign already underway.
Flow rate and number of stages are chosen on real data: less risk of an under- or over-sized plant.
Characterisation of the real batch: piece size, grading, ripeness, sorting reject, incidence of skins, seeds and stones.
What we measure
Verification of stone/pulp separation on the customer's real grading, with several gripper and blade settings.
What we measure
Run through several sieve perforations to link the finished-product specification to actual yield.
What we measure
Vacuum concentration on a sample to determine achievable °Brix, water to be evaporated and the thermal effect on the product.
What we measure
Parameters that determine the heat treatment and the declarable shelf life of the finished product.
What we measure
Verification of the chosen format with the real product, before freezing the line layout.
What we measure
We start from the finished product you want to sell and its format: from there we decide which trials are really needed and which parameters to measure. The protocol is written and shared before the sample is shipped.
We specify quantity, state (fresh, frozen, semi-processed), transport conditions and documentation required for international shipping. The sample must be representative of the campaign batch, not pre-selected.
Trials are run on pilot units and test machines of the European manufacturers we work with, under the supervision of our process engineering team. Where useful, the customer can attend in person or by video link.
We deliver a report with the measured figures, the mass balance and the recommended line configuration. Those figures become the basis for sizing, the quotation and the financial plan — not a stand-alone document.
Because yield depends on the real raw material: variety, ripeness, grading, time between harvest and processing. Two batches of the same species can differ by several yield points, and over a campaign those points matter more than the price difference between two machines.
It depends on the trial: a characterisation and mass balance require modest quantities, while a pilot-unit trial for pitting, refining or concentration requires a larger quantity to be representative. The exact amount is stated in the protocol before shipment.
Timing depends on the number of trials, the seasonality of the raw material and the availability of pilot units. The schedule is stated in the protocol: trials on seasonal raw material must be planned within the campaign window.
This is assessed case by case and put in writing in the quotation. The logic is that trials reduce risk for both parties: whoever runs them upfront avoids paying for an oversized plant or a missed yield downstream.
Yes: the mass balance and measured yields are the part of the dossier a lender reviews to validate the volumes stated in the plan. The test report is incorporated into the feasibility study and the six-year financial plan.
Trials are run on pilot units and test machines of the European manufacturers with whom we integrate the lines, under the supervision of MCF process engineering. Sample quantity, measured parameters, timing and commercial conditions are defined in the test protocol before the sample is shipped. Report values are those measured on the batch supplied: they remain representative of that batch and are reconciled with the project in the feasibility study.
