Finally, the first real oven-baked croquette
Belgian croquette company TNS, based in Eeklo in East Flanders, has unveiled the world’s very first real oven-baked croquette that makes absolutely no use of frying oil in the production process. Together with technology solution provider GEA and ingredient specialist Griffith Foods, TNS CEO Daphné Aers worked hard for two years to bring her healthy oven-baked croquette to market.
Food trend: less fat
“Consumers today are increasingly conscious about what they eat – and that’s a good thing,” says Bartel Pyckhout of Griffith Foods. "Just like Daphné at TNS, we believe that healthy food should also taste good, which is why we’re totally committed to innovation. If you can control the amount of fat in food, you’ll have an immediate impact on nutritional quality. With Never Fry, we’ve developed a concept to not only control the percentage of fat, but also significantly reduce it by as much as 25%. By not using frying fat at any stage during the production process, the product sustains much less heat damage, both at the processor’s plant and in the end consumer’s home.”
“To be able to market the very first oven-baked croquettes, the Never Fry concept of Griffith Foods was exactly what Daphné at TNS needed,” says Ludo Tuyaerts of GEA. “Our role was to translate this into a process line in which each and every step is carefully executed so that TNS can embark on large-scale production without compromising on quality.”
Now TNS can embark on large-scale production without compromising on quality." - Ludo Tuyaerts, GEA Belgium
- Ludo Tuyaerts, GEA Belgium
World first
In 2000, Daphné Aers launched TNS, a company specializing in tapas bites and croquettes that are so tasty, you would think they were homemade. Her target clientele are restaurateurs, food retailers and caterers. Over the years, Daphné continued to improve the quality of her products and work on expanding her business. She was aiming her sights at a world first. What if her delicious croquettes were healthier than any others on the market?
In 2019 she proudly launched the world’s first oven-baked croquette that makes no use of frying oil anywhere in the production process. “Both in Belgium and abroad, our customers and prospects are pleasantly surprised by the flavor and quality of our oven-baked croquettes. And that makes me so happy, because I wholeheartedly believed in the idea from the get-go,” she says.
Our customers and prospects are pleasantly surprised by the flavor and quality of our oven-baked croquettes.” - Daphné Aers, CEO of TNS
- Daphné Aers, CEO of TNS
Top-notch engineering
Meanwhile, huge numbers of oven-baked croquettes are now rolling out of the GEA FlowCook oven, just as Daphné Aers envisioned.
The exceptionally well-designed food processing line comprises a GEA ColumnLoader (a handy lift used to load the forming machine), a GEA MultiFormer where the croquettes are shaped, a GEA WetCoater, which delivers the first and second coat of batter and the glazing, a GEA CrumbMaster, which applies breadcrumbs, and a GEA FlowCook oven in which the croquettes are pre-baked – without using any frying fat, of course.
“In addition to a wide array of machines, GEA has a whole bunch of in-house experts who design the most efficient process line tailored to each application. We know all too well that developing new food products is both time-consuming and costly, so we try to help our customers as much as possible. In our test centers around the world, for example, we can create complex test setups and try out various options on a small scale.” Ludo Tuyaerts, GEA Belgium
