Campollo sets regional benchmark

With about 2000 employees Campollo is one of Colombia’s largest poultry producing companies. The group, with its main office based in the city of Bucaramanga (Santander province, Colombia), is a completely vertically integrated company.

Its activities stretch from feed mills, hatcheries, growers, a high capacity, highly automated processing plant, a plant for value-added further processed products to about 100 retail outlets where products are sold all over Colombia. With its completely new high capacity processing greenfield project equipped with Marel technology, Campollo is in pole position in the Colombian poultry industry.

Traditionally, Campollo has focused on frozen whole products and cuts (individually frozen, packed in bags). In the fast-growing Colombian market, Campollo has a strong market position with these products, especially in the northern part of Colombia, the Caribbean coast and Medellin.

Some years ago Campollo embarked on a mission to further improve its production efficiency, product logistics and production capacity. At the same time, the company extended its product range, as cut-up products became more popular. The market for poultry products in Colombia had been growing by about 4% every year. Campollo, therefore, decided to build a complete poultry project near the northern coastal city of Cartagena, close to its main markets and consumers.

Local presence

The project consisted of a new feed mill, growing sheds for about 2 million broilers, a broiler processing plant and rendering plant. After an intensive selection process, including visits to various European processors and providers, Marel Stork was selected as a technology supplier for the complete processing line of the new plant with an initial capacity of 12,000 bph. A decisive factor in the decision-making process was Marel’s local presence in Colombia, which guarantees efficient service support.

First GP Live Bird Handling System

The complete processing plant was constructed in a short time and is logistically very efficient. The growing sheds supplying broilers to the processing plant are located within a 5-minute drive from the plant. To enable a perfect start to the process, the project was equipped with Marel’s GP Live Bird Handling System, the first in its kind in Latin America. Catching, transport and live bird handling now require a minimum of manpower and secure maximum product quality.

Efficient, stable and continuous production

Evisceration is done completely automatically. A Nuova 24 evisceration system together with automatic giblet processing and other equipment prepare products in the best possible way for chilling. After chilling, whole products are selected and the rest goes to cut-up. 

This highly automated process consists of a flexible ACM-NT cut-up system and can produce a wide selection of cuts. With staffing becoming more and more of a problem, automation now ensures reliability and continuity in production.
Depending on orders some modules can be bypassed. The various cut-up products are fed directly into an IQF freezer. Byproducts are transported by Marel Stork vacuum systems to the rendering plant next to the processing plant.

Plant manager Wilson Luna from Campollo led the project from project plan to installation and commissioning and is now responsible for all operations at the plant. Mr. Luna says: “The service support that Marel offers is very important for our plant’s daily operation. It enables us to keep up yields and safeguard an efficient process. Marel is able to deliver this support because of the availability of local and regional service engineers. They are always close-by.”

Peter Snoeyenbos, Area Sales Manager for Marel says: “Campollo is supported by us with service visits and spares from our local Colombian sales and service office in Bogota. When needed, a specialist is flown in for technological support. Campollo’s greenfield plant is a unique high capacity project for Colombia. The high level of automation and attention paid to process efficiency and hygiene makes this greenfield into a regional benchmark. We are happy that we can support the fast developing poultry market in Colombia. Our strong local presence ensures optimum support for our customers.”

campollo.com