How Companies in Southern Europe and Latin America Stay Competitive
Meat processing is changing at a rapid pace, especially in Southern Europe and Latin America. Increasingly, companies are facing a challenge that barely existed a few years ago: large volumes of frozen raw material at –18 °C imported from exporting countries such as Brazil, the United States, or Argentina.
The reason is clear: local producers in countries like Spain, Portugal, Chile, Panama, or Mexico often cannot compete with international markets on price. As a result, imported frozen products are becoming increasingly important, placing completely new demands on existing processing lines.
As the volume of imported frozen products increases, the challenges in daily production grow as well.
Conventional defrosting methods such as room thawing or water-bath thawing significantly extend production times and cause downtime, which greatly impacts operational profitability.
The frequently used tumbler also reaches its limits when it comes to the primary thawing of frozen products. If it is used as the primary solution, this often leads to structural protein loss, color deviations, uneven temperatures, increased weight loss and fluctuating product quality.
The tumbler is ideal for fine tempering - but not for defrosting blocks of meat at -18 °C.
New industrial process ovens enable significantly faster and gentler defrosting of frozen meat products. These systems can raise the temperature from –18 °C to –4 °C up to ten times faster than conventional methods.
The technology ensures controlled, uniform temperature management and is particularly useful for companies processing large quantities in a short time. Afterwards, the tumbler takes over the fine tempering from –4 °C to 0–2 °C — the optimal range for further processing.
The result is stable processes without quality losses, reduced drip loss, reproducible results, and significantly improved control over every production phase.
International competition is pushing companies to optimize production processes. Purchasing price advantages alone are no longer enough. Stable production lines, precise temperature control, and consistent product quality are crucial.
Companies that invest in advanced defrosting systems benefit from higher throughput, improved energy efficiency, reduced labor time, and a significant increase in quality.
This allows them to remain flexible, regardless of the origin of the raw material, and secure long-term competitiveness.
We support meat-processing companies with comprehensive process analyses, economic comparison calculations (ROI), technical recommendations, and customized solutions for existing or new production lines.
We also conduct live demonstrations of the new defrosting and tempering technologies directly on site — in Spain, Portugal, Chile, Panama, and other regions of Latin America.
While many companies continue to rely on traditional methods, others are already testing innovative technologies that sustainably improve their production processes.
If you want to know how efficient your current defrosting process is or whether modern systems would be profitable for your operation, we will be happy to support you with an individual analysis or an exclusive demonstration.
Efficiency, process optimization and modern technologies are crucial for strong and future-proof production.
