Frigorífico Kroth inaugurates new premium beef processing plant

Renowned Brazilian premium beef processor, Frigorífico Kroth, concluded 2020 with an outstanding achievement that promises to open future prospects. The company inaugurated a new plant to expand the primary cattle processing line and increase the capacity to 10,000 heads per month. This is achieved thanks to the line's automation project developed and implemented by Marel.

The fruitful partnership between Kroth and Marel began in 2012 when the company purchased Sulmaq (incorporated by Marel years later) standalone equipment for viscera processing. Since then, the relationship has grown and expanded into development. Today, the partnership allows Marel's Innovation Engineering team to perform tests on prototypes under development and new products at Kroth's processing plant.

A successful partnership

For the new processing plant, Marel supplied complete lines consisting of Sulmaq equipment for the primary processing dirty and clean zones, viscera processing, and a cutting and deboning room with 20 cattle/hour capacity.

According to Auri and Luís Kroth, the expansion was fundamental to solve contamination problems, automate the processes and adapt the company to the Brazilian standards of ergonomics, safety, and veterinary inspection system. "We are also preparing to meet the growing market demand,” they declare.

Before the expansion, Kroth had a processing plant with a fully manual production line and primary processing capacity from 45 to 48 animals/hour. “Automation was fundamental to eliminate the possibility of cross-contamination, increase throughput and guarantee the quality of the final product”, says Fernando Becker, Industrial Manager at Kroth.

“Frigorífico Kroth is a great example of a customer who wanted to incorporate processing technologies in its expansion and found in Marel a partner to achieve this new and important stage of its strategic planning for growth in new markets, honoring its premium products,” says  Fernando Roos, LATAM Sales Director for Marel Meat. “We are very proud to have been elected by the Kroth Family.”

According to Fernando, the line automation has reduced employees' physical effort, contributed to the process’s safety with primary processing control, and created a more effective distribution of operations.

In addition, the automation of the viscera processing area was carried out with the installation of a system for removing the viscera from tables, eliminating the need for manual contact and, consequently, the risk of contamination. “Today we can guarantee the accuracy of inspection control, anywhere on the line," says Becker.

A full line supplier

Before confirming the partnership with Marel for this project, representatives of Frigorífico Kroth consulted other suppliers. The deciding factor in the final decision, according to Fernando Becker, "was Marel's guarantee of delivering a complete, operational and functional line."

"What also weighed heavily was Marel's extensive knowledge of primary processing plant design. After visits to other plants and discussions with the sales team, we chose Marel because of the experience and involvement that the company offers in defining the project,” adds Lúcio Kroth.

The company also highlighted the relationship with Marel’s project engineering team. “It was a relationship of learning and mutual trust; they trusted our ideas, and we trusted the experience of the engineers and, with that, we made several project improvements together,” affirms Lucio Kroth and Fernando Becker.

They also highlight the Marel teams’ professionalism during the installation, commissioning, and start-up of the plant. “Marel has always been here, from the first moment, making the necessary adjustments, without wasting time.” 

Company strategy

Frigorífico Kroth and Marel share common objectives such as offering, with excellence, quality products. “During our initial strategic planning in the '90s, we decided to offer a differentiated and superior quality product that was a result of our passion for what we produced,” says Fábio Kroth, Managing Partner of Frigorífico Kroth.

About Frigorífico Kroth

This strategic objective aligns with the values of this family business. The history of Frigorífico Kroth begins in 1956. Reinoldo Kroth, father of Hélio and Auri and grandfather to members of the current management, opened a small butcher shop, operated only on weekends, in Venâncio Aires, in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul state. They worked in the crops and slaughtered cattle to supply the family. They began to serve the local community and, later, expanded into the region.

Today, Frigorífico Kroth's operation is national, focusing on Brazil’s southern region, especially in Rio Grande states do Sul and Santa Catarina, with more than 2,000 active customers. The brothers André, Fábio, Luís, and Silvano, sons of Auri Kroth, who is also a part of the company’s management, make up Frigorífico Kroth’s management board.

Frigorífico Kroth works with different cuts, such as the forequarter that offers tasty meat and is highly popular by local consumers. The brand’s most outstanding product is the sirloin cap (Brazilian picanha steak), which does not stay in stock for long thanks to its high standard of premium quality.

The company has SISBI Certification from the Brazilian System of Inspection of Animal Origin Products, which allows the commercialization of the entire national territory. It aims to obtain the SIF Certification (Federal Inspection Service) so that Frigorífico Kroth can export its products in the future.

Kroth's head office is located next to the industrial processing plant on the property that once hosted the family's first butcher shop. It was there that the inauguration plate unveiling of the new plant took place.