BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to systems and methods for manufacturing of food analogue products.

2. Description of Related Art

[0002] Nowadays market have a high demand for food analogue products such as non-dairy products but with analogue characteristics. Such demand has several origins, for example lactose intolerance, allergies, vegan diets, animal cruelty issues, environmental sustainability issues (such as less greenhouse gases produced in production, less water used in production, etc.), quest for healthier nutrition (such as lower saturated fats, lower or no cholesterol), etc.

[0003] Same may be for meat analogue products, egg based analogue products, etc.

[0004] However, as consumers are used to the characteristics of such products having similar characteristics regarding consistency, color, flavor, nutritional content and/or other qualities are in high demand.

[0005] Although dairy-like products and other kinds of analogue products are available achieving high level substitute products having said analogue characteristics, mostly consistency and flavor, while maintaining an efficient manufacturing process including eliminating or at least greatly minimizing waste during manufacturing while allowing reasonable pricing is still a major issue.

[0006] Hence, an improved systems and methods as described in this application are still a long felt need.

BRIEF SUMMARY

[0007] According to an aspect of the present invention a method for manufacturing analogue products having at least one of the consistency, color, taste or nutritional content of the original product, comprising steps of: collecting predefined amounts of predefined raw materials to a dedicated collection station; moving each of said raw materials to a predefined pre-handling station and pre-handling said raw materials, wherein one of said pre-handling station is a germination station in which said raw material is allowed to partially sprout; moving and mixing all of said pre-handled and/or raw materials into a first grinding station; grinding, using a colloid grinder, said mix wherein said first grinding station outcome is an emulsion of particles sized up to 300 microns; further wherein said first grinding station is connected using a pipe to a second grinding station; transferring said first griding station outcome to said second grinding station using said pipe; grinding said first griding station outcome using two pipe-connected grinding substations, using stone grinders or cutters with a microcut head of at least 210 angles angled blades with opening no larger than 0.035 mm between the blades, having heat exchangers comprising pipes of coolant surrounding the connecting pipes leading to and/or from said two grinding substations, wherein said two grinding substations gradually grinding said transferred first grinding station outcome, and wherein said second station outcome is a chilled emulsion of particles sized up to 50 microns; further wherein said second grinding station is connected to a pasteurization station which allow transferring of said second griding station outcome to said pasteurization station; transferring said second grinding station outcome to said pasteurization station; pasteurizing said second station outcome using a tank having two stirrers turning in opposite directions and enlarged surfaces to allow heat transfer efficiency; further wherein said pasteurization station is connected to a fermentation station which allow transferring of said pasteurized outcome to said fermentation station; transferring said pasteurized outcome to said fermentation station; heating to predefined temperature said pasteurized outcome, adding predefined lactic acid producing bacteria and allowing the PH levels to be lowered to a predefined level; pouring said fermented outcome into containers; chilling said filled containers, wherein no filtering or removing material is conducted after said raw materials enter said first grinding station.

[0008] It is further within provision of the invention be wherein said original product is based at least one from the group consisting of: dairy, meat, fish, sea food and egg based.

[0009] It is further within provision of the invention be wherein predefined raw materials is on or more of oat, lentil, sesame seed, bean, rice, coconut, grain and natural oil.

[0010] It is further within provision of the invention be wherein pre-handling station comprise one or more of soaking, cooking, toasting or roasting of said raw materials.

[0011] Another aspect of the present invention provides a manufacturing facility for the production of dairy analogue products having at least one of the consistency, color, taste or nutritional content of a dairy product, comprising: at least one storage and collecting station adapted to store predefined amounts of predefined raw materials to a dedicated collection station; pre-handling station comprising one or more from the following substations soaking substation, cooking substation, toasting substation, roasting substation and germination station; first grinding station comprising mixing area and at least one colloid grinder, wherein said first grinding station outcome is an emulsion of particles sized up to 300 microns; second grinding station comprising two grinding substations using stone grinders or cutters with a microcut head of at least 210 angles angled blades with opening no larger than 0.035 mm between the blades, having heat exchangers comprising pipes of coolant surrounding the connecting pipes leading to and/or from said two grinding substations, wherein said second grinding station outcome is an emulsion of particles sized up to 50 microns; pasteurization station having two stirrers turning in opposite directions and enlarged surfaces to allow heat transfer efficiency; fermentation station having means to heat said emulsion to a predefined temperature and adding predefined lactic acid producing bacteria to said emulsion; pouring means adapted to allow pouring said fermented outcome into containers; chilling means to allow said filled containers to cool to a predefined temperature, wherein stations from said first grinding station to fermentation station are connected using pipes to allow transferring of outcome from one station to the next; further wherein no filtering or removing material is conducted after said raw materials enter said first grinding station.

[0012] These, additional, and/or other aspects and/or advantages of the present invention are: set forth in the detailed description which follows; possibly inferable from the detailed description; and/or learnable by practice of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be implemented in practice, a plurality of embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates components of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates components of a cleaning system in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates components of the pre-handling station in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates components of the grinding station in an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 illustrates components of the pasteurization and fermentation station in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates components of the packaging station in an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 illustrates components of an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The following description is provided, alongside all chapters of the present invention, so as to enable any person skilled in the art to make use of said invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out this invention. Various modifications, however, will remain apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined specifically to provide a means and method for manufacturing of food analogue products.

[0015] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art will understand that such embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Just as each feature recalls the entirety, so may it yield the remainder. And ultimately when the features manifest, so an entirely new feature be recalled. Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention.

[0016] The phrases "at least one", "one or more", and "and/or" are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions "at least one of A, B and C", "at least one of A, B, or C", "one or more of A, B, and C", "one or more of A, B, or C" and "A, B, and/or C" means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.

[0017] The term ’plurality’ refers hereinafter to any positive integer (e.g, 1,5, or 10).

[0018] The invention relates to systems and methods for manufacturing of a dairy analogue products.

[0019] Generally speaking, the system and method may allow manufacturing of high-level analogue products, for example dairy, meat, fish, sea food or egg based analogue products, without adding artificial preservatives or processed additives, having characteristics resembling the parallel original products (such as consistency, flavor, color and nutritional content) while maintaining an efficient manufacturing process including eliminating or at least greatly minimizing waste during manufacturing.

[0020] Such is achieved using a method and manufacturing facility generally comprising eight (8) stations: raw materials storage and collection station, weighting and kit preparation station, pre-handling station, first grinding station, second grinding station, pasteurizing station, fermentation station and packing and cooling station.

[0021] Although the method and process described may be used as-is to mimic the characteristics of many original products, for example dairy based, meat based, fish based, sea food based, egg based and others, for the clarity of the description, a dairybased example would be used.

[0022] As can be appreciated, the process begins with careful designing of the product in which a combination of raw materials from two or more of the groups: grains, seeds, kernels, legumes, nuts and/or fruits are selected to create a specific dairy analogue product. In some embodiments of the invention, such may be chosen from the group: oat, lentil, sesame seed, bean, rice, coconut, grain and natural oil.

[0023] The raw materials selected are used in the method with any pre-processing.

[0024] In the manufacturing facility the raw materials are picked up from the storage station to the weighting and kit preparation station in which a kit for a specific product is created. Such a kit comprises the right amount of each of the specific raw materials required for the preparation of the specific product and batch size. As can be appreciated, each product such as yogurt, spread, soft “cheese”, half-hard “cheese”, hard “cheese”, etc. would have it own unique kit.

[0025] At this stage, each of the different raw materials may go through a prehandling process which may include cleaning, washing, separating of unwanted parts as well as process of soaking, cooking, toasting or roasting, as required. For example, oats, beans and grains may go through soaking of 6-12 hours, other raw materials may go through other kinds of pre-handling processes. As depicted in Fig. 3, plurality of tanks 301-308 may allow parallel processes such as cleaning, washing, separating of unwanted parts as well as process of soaking, cooking, toasting or roasting using piping system and hydraulic system 309 that may allow valve control and material transportation within and between stations. Further depicted in Fig. 3 is the connection of the cleaning system using cleaning fluids and grey water pipes 310. In some embodiments of the invention, heat transfer elements 406 may be used in the process of cooking and similar processes.

[0026] In some embodiments of the invention, the soaking process may be vital to final product. Such may be achieved in a germination station in which the raw material is allowed to partially sprout, while changing the raw material without the use of any external or artificial aids and materials. Other raw materials may be soaked for the purpose of absorbing water or other natural liquids in order to assist the grinding stages, as will be explained. [0027] All of the pre-handled kit may now be combined in the first grinding station. In some embodiments of the invention, as depicted in Fig. 4, such may be stored in one or more buffer tanks 402.

[0028] The first grinding station 403 may comprise a colloid grinder which may allow reducing the size of the solid particles to 300 micron at most. As explained above, most, if not all, raw materials were first soaked and hence absorbed liquids or otherwise naturally softened, which assist the grinding process as well as the wear and tear rate of the grinder. The outcome of the first grinding station is an emulsion with solids smaller than 300 microns.

[0029] From the first grinding station and until the pouring to containers, the process may be fully automated as well as waste free as each of the stations is connected to the next station using piping system that allow the outcome of each station to be transferred to the next station without human assistant and with material loss.

[0030] The outcome of the first grinding station is transferred to the second grinding station 404 which may be comprised of two substations having outcome of same emulsion but with solids smaller than 50 microns.

[0031] In some embodiments of the invention, in a substation that can be referred to as post-first grinding station or pre-second grinding station, an addition of liquids is added to the outcome of the first grinding station. In further embodiments of the invention, such liquid may be water while in other embodiments, other liquids may be added. Such liquids are added in order to adjust or balance the consistency of the outcome both for final product consistency as well as for the requirements of the second griding station.

[0032] The second grinding station comprise two stone grinders or cutters with a microcut head of at least 210 angles angled blades with opening no larger than 0.035 mm between the blades having gradual size which may grind the outcome of the first grinding station gradually. In order to avoid heating of the emulsion, some or all of the pipes leading to the and within the second grinding station may have heat exchange system. In some embodiments of the invention, such heat exchange system may comprise coolant liquid flowing in heat transferring pipes around the pipes in which the emulsion travel to the second griding station, within it and from it until the desired temperature is reached. In other embodiments of the invention, the grinding may be using different kinds of grinders.

[0033] From the second grinding station the emulsion may be transferred to a pasteurizing 501 station which in some embodiments may comprise a tank having two stirrers turning in opposite directions and enlarged surfaces to allow heat transfer efficiency. In some embodiments of the invention the emulsion may be stored in buffer tanks 405 between stations.

[0034] Once pasteurized, the outcome may be transferred to the fermentation station in which the outcome may be heated to a predefined temperature and predefined lactic acid producing bacteria may be added to the emulsion. The emulsion may then be allowed to reach a predefined level of PH, which may be lower than the original level. Such predefined lactic acid producing bacteria may be chosen carefully to achieve the desired result in the final product.

[0035] In some embodiments of the invention, the PH level may be less than 4.5 as such may allow the creation of special flavor, longer shelf life and natural preservation as well as allowing the human body to better absorb the nutrients and make the product easier to digest.

[0036] In some embodiments of the invention, such lactic acid producing bacteria may be bulgaricus and/or thermophilus.

[0037] At this stage the product may be poured into containers 601 and chilled in refrigeration area. In some embodiments of the invention, the cooling may be done in special containers 502 while in other embodiments of the invention, the cooling may be in the final product containers. In some embodiments of the invention, other ingredients, such as raw materials (e.g., fruits or part of ) may be added to the final product before or during the packing process or pouring process. Such may be stored in tanks 602 in the same manner other raw materials are handled in the disclosed system.

[0038] As can be appreciated, such manufacturing facility may comprise plurality of sensors and computing devices designed to manage and control it’s operation. [0039] As can further be appreciated, the combination of choosing the right mix for creating a product kit as well as the specific lactic acid with combination of the novel mechanical processing of the ingredients may allow the creation of the desired products.

[0040] The method, process and facility described above may allow the manufacturing of many analogue products such as yogurt, cheese, milk, milk based beverage, sausage, hot dog, cold cut, hamburger, mayonnaise, omelet, creme cheese, spreads, etc.

[0041] In some embodiments of the invention all the raw materials, as well as the process itself may be such to allow the end products to be classified as completely vegan product.

[0042] In further embodiments of the invention, as depicted in Fig. 2, a system-wide cleaning system 200 may provide pipes and/or tanks cleaning abilities using pipes 204 connected to other stations of the system. Such system may comprise one or more hot water tanks 201, cleaning agents and/or detergents one or more tanks 202 and one or more grey water tanks 203. Wherein the system may be a partly closed loop system in a way that the cleaning system allow clean water to enter the system from the water grid and allow grey water to be disposed using the sewer system.

[0043] Although selected embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Instead, it is to be appreciated that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof.