Golden ice crystals for Reinhold Stover, Philip Dean Kruk and Bob Prakken at Anuga: QFFI honors three pioneers of the European frozen food industry who have left an indelible mark of distinction in advancing the industry's product sophistication and packaging prowess.

Many are called, but few are chosen. As such, the latest winners of Quick Frozen Foods International magazine's (QFFI) Golden Ice Crystal Pioneering Award have joined an elite contingent of movers and shakers who have instrumentally shaped the international frozen food industry. Entering the ranks this year are three highly successful innovators from as many fields:

* Reinhold Stover, an entrepreneurial farmer turned industrialist from Germany who founded Agrar-frost and the diversified Stover Group of companies which manufacture frozen potato products, sausages and other value-added meats, plus a variety of condiments.

* Philip Dean Kruk, managing director of Salomon Hitburger GmbH. Under his talented and creative guidance during the past 25 years, the Grossostheim-Ringheim, Germany-based company became the nation's leading supplier of deep-frozen minced beef products to the domestic fast food sector, as well as the driving force behind the introduction of new finger foods in Europe.

* Bob Prakken, an inventive machinery engineer whose end-of-line case packing systems have made it possible for frozen food producers to highly automate movement of finished products from packaging lines into master cases or other containers bound for distribution to end users.

Each will be honored during a special ceremony held Oct. 9, 6-8 PM, at the Messeclub in Congress Centre East on the premises of the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany.

The 2005 inductees join a select group of overachievers who have been recognized for pioneering accomplishments. The list, which reads like a "Who's Who in the Frozen Food Industry," contains the names of stalwarts H. Harrison McCain, founder of McCain Foods; Karl Dusterberg of apetito AG; Ernst Wagner, founder of Wagner Tiefkuhl-produkte; Edward Haspeslagh, founder of Ardo NV; Dirk Ahlers, founder and chairman of FRoSTA AG; Andre Dejonghe, founder of Pinguin NV; Per-Oskar Persson of Frigoscandia, inventor of the FLoFreeze industrial freezing process which revolutionized IQF production around the world; Gerrit de Bruijne, founder of Farm Frites; and Volkmar Frenzel, an entrepreneur from the former East Germany who beat the odds in an anti-free enterprise Communist environment to not only found Frenzel Frozen Food, but to go on and make it a success in the post-DDR marketplace.

"Over the years, each award-winner, in his own way, has made contributions that have greatly moved the frozen business forward," said John M. Saulnier, chief editor and publisher of QFFI. "We are pleased to honor them for unwavering leadership and the decisive roles they have played in advancing the frozen food sector in the formative years of its development in important markets."

From Farmer to Industrialist

Reinhold Stover built a company, which employs 1,600 people and rang up sales of approximately 375 million euros this year, from the humble roots of a 43-acre hectare farm taken over from his parents in Aldrup/Wildeshausen, Germany. The year was 1961 and he was just 23 years old, with an agriculture education behind him and a field of dreams to fulfill lying ahead.

By 1967, with a small staff of five persons, the farmer had become a fledgling agra-industrialist by acquiring a second-hand french fry machine that processed 600 tons of spuds into fresh pommes frites during the first year of operation. By 1968 direct deliveries were being made to customers in the German gastronomy sector, and a year later potato salad was added to the range.

Since french fries go well with ketchup and mayonnaise, Stover began making the condiments in 1970. A year after that he opened a meat processing factory to make bratwurst and other kinds of sausage.

It was in 1972 when Stover got into the frozen food business, producing french fries under the newly launched Agrarfrost brand and employing 120 people. The following year output increased to eight tons of finished product per hour, and by 1975 the company was producing 100,000,000 portions per annum with exports going as far afield as Australia.

Ten years later, by far the biggest home-grown producer of frozen french fries in Germany, Agrarfrost became a supplier to the McDonald's chain of quick service restaurants. That important business relationship, which has enabled the company to grow from strength to strength, remains solidly intact today.

In 1989, Weser Feinkost was brought into the Stover Group. Four years following the fall of the Iron Curtain dividing East and West Germany, the company began producing potato products and chips at a state-of-the plant it built in Oschersleben (near Magdeburg) in the former DDR. Agrarfrost invested some 115 million euros in the project--which included farming and seed potato production--creating 500 new jobs in the process.

By 1997 turnover had reached DM 700 million in potato product sales, with Feinkost specialties ringing up another DM 20,000 and sausages and production of meat products amounting to 5,000 tons.

Having run the company successfully for 27 years, in 1998 Stover relinquished the helm to his son, Elke. Since then, the group has increased potato production capacity to 225,000 tons, built a new meat processing factory, established another coldstore in Aldrup, and added a chips line in Oschersleben.

Salomon's Creative Force

When it comes to creative food product innovation and marketing, Philip Dean Kruk ranks among the most talented people on the scene in Europe today. Anybody who has met the creative, spirited food marketing master walks away feeling positively better for having made his acquaintance. His enthusiasm is contagious, among associates and customers alike.

Kruk has spent the last 25 years building up the Salomon organization, diversifying its product line, and guiding its sales, production techniques and R&D efforts.

As a major supplier to Burger King since 1980, on a typical day the company produces some 750,000 frozen patties which go to the hamburger chain as well as to other customers in the foodservice and retail sector. In 2003 it became a member of the Bestmeat Company BV of Holland, which ranks as the second largest meat group in Europe.

During the last decade, Salomon Hitburger has diversified well beyond hamburgers, grillsteaks, cevapcidi, meatballs and meat toppings. After achieving great success selling Poppers and other Anchor appetizers in Europe--which it continues to distribute to the German foodservice market under a special agreement with McCain

Foods following its acquisition of Anchor--Salomon has broadened its once All-American finger food menu in Europe to offer the largest global snack and appetizer treats assortment on the continent.

"Our lifestyle finger foods span the world of flavor from Asian-accented shrimp and vegetables on a stick, to California sushi rolls, to typically Caribbean chicken wings with jerk seasoning, to Chik'n Double Sticks Mediterranean," stated Kruk. "Items in our Chik'n Sticks range, all of which are very tasty, contain less than 1.5% fat. This makes for a fashionably light and healthy meal for consumers to enjoy."

Inventive Bob Prakken

As a young industrial engineer working for Dupont de Nemours during the mid-1960s, Bob Prakken introduced the company's first standard costing and budgeting system outside the USA for the Orlon, Lycra and Delrin factories in the Netherlands.

He also served as area industrial engineer for the Delrin operation before moving on to join Florigo Apparatenfabrieke in 1966, where he worked his way up to technical and sales director over the course of 14 years. During that time he transformed the company from its status as a Dutch industrial fryer manufacturer with mainly national business into a well reputed international supplier of complete program root vegetable processing and frying equipment.

Prakken was instrumental in numerous innovations that originated at Florigo, ranging from the IBVL counter flow washer/blancher for reduced water consumption and IBVL vacuum fryers that make use of late season potatoes, to the zonal flow fryer for improved control of the final frying stage, to high pressure steam peeler refinements designed to reduce yearly peel losses from an average of 18% to 12%.

But it is in the field of end-of-line case packing systems where Prakken made his biggest mark in the food processing industry, after branching out on his own in 1980 to start a design and consultancy office in Woerden, Holland.

"Nobody was interested in investing in my idea for case packing, as for many years it was regarded as a mechanical or technical problem that could not be solved. So there was no choice except to establish my business and work independently on finding solutions that involved total processes," said the entrepreneur.

Interestingly, Prakken's first patent application was actually for a bag seal checker. "Without a quality check on the products that are placed into the case, you can't go much further with any degree of efficiency," he explained.

Some of BluePrint Automation's first customers for systems for case packing non-rigid containers were the early pioneers of the European and Canadian frozen potato and vegetable processing industries--among them McCain Foods and Farm Frites.

Prakken built a factory in Woerden in 1983, and set up a subsidiary in the USA four years later to handle growing business in North America. In 1998 a 40,000-square foot factory crone on line in Virginia, and in 2000 a new engineering, sales and assembly center opened in the Netherlands.

This year, as the company celebrates its Silver Anniversary, it is stepping up activities in designing and manufacturing vision-guided robotics systems for the food industry though BluePrint Robotics, a subsidiary created in Boulder, Colorado, during 2003.

The BluePrint Group, now in its second generation of family leadership with Bob's son Martin in command as chief executive officer, has made over 2,000 installations worldwide during the past quarter-century.

Anuga Show Preview

While the presentation of Golden Ice Crystal Awards will reign as one of the evening highlights of the Oct. 8-12 Anuga food fair, there will be plenty going on during the daytime hours for keep show-goers busy. Products, innovations, ideas and strategies will be on display to critical and expertly qualified trade visitors from all over the world. Furthermore, a multifaceted supporting program will begin on the evening before tile fair's official opening with a kickoff event featuring high-powered experts from the sector.

Anuga headquarters for Quick Frozen Foods International and sister magazine Private Label International during the exhibition will be in Hall 14.2, Stand T009. Editors and sales personnel from both publications will be on hand for the duration, during which time thousands of copies of the magazines will be distributed to show-goers.

Frozen Products Galore

German companies exhibiting in the Anuga Frozen Food section in Hall 14 include Andurona, Costa, Femeg, Frenzel, FRoSTA, Interfrost, Langenbach, Munchow, Rari, Ristic, Salomon Hitburger and SSP 

Lamb Weston/Meijer of Kruiningen, the Netherlands (Fax: [phone]), will be at Hall 14.2, Stand R008/Q008 with a host of imaginative potato and other products. Just a few of them are:

* Crispy Skin-on Slices for a natural potato flavor that cook up thin, crisp and crunchy.

* Amaizeing Dipping Strips with grill-marks, available with Amaizeing Corn coating.

* Crispy Onion Rings

* Beer Battered Onion Rings

* Spicy Broccoli Bites, with a real broccoli taste in a spicy coating.

Two novelty items are being introduced at the show by Poppies International, Zonnebeke, Belgium (Fax: [phone]).

First is a Chocolate Temptation Assortment, with 40 mini pastries consisting of mini sponge rolls with a chocolate flavored coating and an orange filling, dairy cream profiteroles covered with crunchy milk chocolate, and mini eclairs filled with vanilla flavored cream and topped with milk chocolate.

Next up is a Fruity Pastry Selection featuring raspberry bites, mini black forest sponge rolls, mini sponge rolls with cherry cream filling, and mini eclairs filled with raspberry dairy cream and topped with white chocolate packed in one box.

Reducing fat is Job One at Lutosa, Leuze-en-Hainaut, Belgium (Fax: [phone]), as witness development of a new form of mashed potatoes and an increasingly wide range of french fries and specialties that can be oven-baked rather than fried.

Bintje mashed potatoes, billed as "just like the home-made version," are delicately seasoned to provide a natural potato taste and consistent quality. Healthy to eat with less than 0.5% fat content, the product contains no artificial additives or preservatives, has low salt content (less than 1%) and is guaranteed to be gluten-free.

Lutosa Family Fries, cut 14/14mm and marketed in 1.5 kg bags, are starch-coated (clear coating), meaning they stay ultra-crispy and hotter longer than non-coated fries. Oven preparation is best, as it reduces fat content to barely 5%. Show-goers can find these and more in Hall 14.2, Stands Q31-39.

Oerlemans Foods BV, Venlo, the Netherlands (Fax: [phone]), will be holding forth at Hall 14.2, Booths P41-49, with four new international wok mixes: Orient, Thai, Alpe-Adria and Italia. They are part of the company's Top Gastronomy line for chefs in the hotel and catering industry, and ideally suited for front cooking (dishes prepared before diners). The range can be used direct from the freezer and cooked quickly, while retaining color, taste, vitamins and crispness.

Berlin-based baked goods maker Fricopan Back GmbH (Fax: [phone]), up to now mainly involved in the foodservice sector, has begun to concentrate its activities more on retailing. Following relaunch of its strudel range in the spring of 2005, it will present both new and improved products with baking demonstrations at Hall 14.2, Booths P-011-019.

The Fricopan idea people have brought forth, among other things, a ham and cheese croissant in a retail package. Also new are sweet and piquant frozen snacks in flaky and puff pastry, and a newly redesigned poppy seed strudel, offering a welcome change from the classic apple and cottage cheese strudel.

Yet catering remains at the heart of Fricopan. New in the 2005 foodservice assortment are, for example: a baked apple croissant with wintry spices, completely baked milk croissants, wellness products and tasty items in the convenience/snack segment.

Fricopan has also found export to be an area of growth, and has strengthened its position here in recent years. Deep freezing provides the optimal conditions for introducing the enjoyment of typical German baked goods to distant marketing areas.

Ardo NV, Ardooie, Belgium (Fax: [phone]), which will be at Hall 14.2, Stand 09/P9, is also active in the wok category, Its Wok Verde will be spotlighted at Anuga, along with Pasta Primavera and a Lotus Mix.

Wok Verde is a blend of green vegetables: leaf spinach, broccoli, sugar snap peas, and asparagus and garlic sprouts. It can be steamed as well as stir-fried, Pasta Primavera brings together fettucine Bami-style, featuring red and yellow carrots, bean sprouts, leaf spinach and leeks.

Lotus Mix is for fans of authentic Asian cuisine, with lotus root, water chestnuts, baby corn, sugar snap peas and bean sprouts. The new products join such previous successes as Mediterranean Brunoise, Romanesco Mix and Vegetable Juhenne.

In-Season Foods, Bangkok, Thailand (Fax: [phone]) will be at Hall 14.2, Booth O-898 to show its line of fresh-frozen fruit produced with liquid nitrogen. The range includes pineapple, mango, litchi, papaya, banana, rambutan, longan, cantaloupe and fruit salad combinations.

The company's pineapple was named Top Innovation of Anuga two years ago during the Taste 03 competition. At this year's fair, In-Season promises "several new exciting products" to encourage the world to become healthier while enjoying the flavor and aroma of tree-ripened fruit all year round.

Frozen bread's the thing at Polpain Dakri, Lodz, Poland (Fax: [phone]), which has been in the frozen bakery business for six years and received ISO 9001 and NACCP certification in 2002.

New this year, and showcased at Booth 048 in Hall 14.2, will be wheat-rye breads, produced with natural fermentation process according to traditional Polish recipes that shun artificial ingredients. Rye-whole meal breads produced from whole meal flours with high fiber content will also be introduced. Dakri also produces rolls, baguettes, ciabatta, croissants, cakes and doughnuts.

Also in the bread business is Panelux S.A., Roodt/Syre, Luxembourg (Fax: [phone]), which will be at Stand O-19, Hall 14.2, with a special focus on its par-baked line of traditional breads, baguettes and rolls.

These have become a huge success since their launch, the company says, as more customers are expressing an interest in breads, baguettes and rolls with a rustical feel, look and taste, as opposed to standard industrial products.

Spice & Co., s-Heerenberg, the Netherlands (Phone: [phone]) is spicing up the lives of consumers with a range of poultry-based finger food products that feature Mediterranean, Asian and Mexican styles of cuisine. Among the offerings that will be shown Stand S031 in Hall 14.2 are: Sweet Chilli Chopsticks, Red Thai, Mexican Tortilla and Dim Sum Sticks with dipping sauces. They are distributed in 200 to 260g retail packages.

All products are made from 100% fillet meat, not reformed chicken. In the future the range is expected to branch out beyond poultry-based items to include seafood and pork recipes.

Mouscron, Belgium-based Mydibel NV (Fax: [phone]) will offer a new range of instant mashed potatoes, made with potato granules. The product contains milk, butter, salt and spices, so all the end-user has to do is add boiling water.

With its participation in Anuga at Hall 10, Stand P-020, the Viciunai Group, Kaunas, Lithuania (Fax: [phone]), is out to confirm and expand its position in the European market. In the past, the company has concentrated on its surimi and breaded fish products. This year, it is adding marinated herring (rolmops, bismarck herring), herring salads, smoked herring and smoked salmon. Furthermore, Viciunai is expanding its range of food products beyond fish. It will also display a brand new range of pizzas and pastry products.

Slothouber Seafoods BV, Den Haag, the Netherlands (Fax: [phone]), is expanding its Fisherman's Choice range. At Hall 10.2, Booth P-30, the company will introduce Party Crab Claws.

In line with the current trend in party catering, the thaw-and-eat product is made with surimi presented on a real crab claw. The product can be served as an appetizer, plain or with a sauce or chutney, or featured as a salad component.

Fisherman's Choice also offers Party Rings: 35-37 pieces of cooked, peeled and deveined shrimps on a ready-to-serve platter complete with cocktail sauce.

As a system supplier, CFS Kempten GmbH, Kempten, Germany (Fax: [phone]), offers the cheese industry machines for preparation and processing, automatic slicing lines and all sorts of packaging equipment and material. Among innovative packages it will display at its stand will be polypropylene based, highly transparent deep draw film with barrier properties. The film stands out due to its high transparency, plus good forming and sealing properties. CFS will also be showing TPR film, which has the so-called paper look as well as excellent barrier properties.

Ardo Group Expands in Spain, Acquiring Findus Operations

The Ardo Group, Ardooie, Belgium, has agreed to acquire the Spanish division of Findus SA, based in Pamploba with factories in Badajoz and Marcilla.

The takeover covers all the Spanish and Portuguese activities of Findus, which will be integrated into Ardo's European organization. The Findus brand name will be retained and expanded in Spain and Portugal by Ardo. The agreement adds to its portfolio and will strengthen market positions in both Spain and Europe overall.

Ardo began its activities in the 1950s as a grower and trader of vegetables. Over the years, the company has developed a wide range of frozen vegetables, vegetable mixes, vegetable dishes and fruit. Ardo controls the entire process: from planting to freezing. Flexibility, market and product know-how are essential to Ardo's strategy, enabling it to annually produce 400,000 tons of high-quality frozen fruit and vegetables from 11 production and two packing units in eight countries.

At Anuga, the company will be exhibiting in Hall 14.2, Stand 09/P9.

Weak Dollar Puts US in Strong Position To Promote Exports at Anuga Pavilion

United States companies at Anuga 2005 seem poised for a successful showing in Cologne, Germany, Oct. 8-12, as the weak dollar valuation compared to the euro has provided an ideal setting for them to boost exports. Anuga, which is the world's largest food and beverage show, takes place every two years.

"We have noticed that many companies that formerly put off their export business are now becoming active," said Heike Schlimbach, Anuga US project manager.

Koelnmesse, Inc., Chicago-based North American subsidiary of the Anuga organizer, will stage Product Pavilions in various categories, including frozen food.

One of the features of Anuga 2005 will be the second Innovation Prize for Organic Food Processing. The award, given by the Schweisfurth Foundation in association with Koelnmesse and Anuga, with financial support from the Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture (BMVEL), honors outstanding achievements in the organic food sector and thus promotes further development in this field.

An independent panel of 11 jurists--representing the catering industry, retail trade and science field--will assess the entries.

The Schweisfurth Foundation is based in Munich and has been closely involved with the food industry for over 15 years. Anuga, for its part, will also feature a special platform called Organic World.

Lots of pasta from Keck

Keck Spezialitaten GmbH, Offingen, Germany (Fax: [phone]), offers 100 different shapes and designs of pasta to choose from--all made with or without eggs, and suitable for microwave or stir-fry ready meals. Packaging options include 15 to 25 kg bulk cartons for industry, 5 kg cartons for catering, and 5 x 1 kg croutons for restaurants.

Together with Linde Gases, Keck has developed a technique to produce sauces, soups and purees in IQF droplets for stir-fry meals, vegetable mixes and other products. Items include Creme Fraiche, fruit and vegetable purees, baby food, curry cream sauce, vegetable cream sauce, tomato sauce, soups and salmon sauce.

Costa brings catfish, salmon, more to Anuga

Costa of Emden, Germany (Fax: [phone]), brings a variety of new products to Anuga food fair in Cologne. Among them are catfish, two more salmon ready meals, and two seafood baguettes.

Until the last few years, catfish has for some reason been a relative rarity on menus in Germany. Costa is offering fillets of the Pangasius variety sourced from Southeast Asia, with juicy white meat. They can be prepared in a variety of ways, and are thought to lend themselves particularly well to roasting and steaming. A 250-gram package, containing two to three fillets, is suggested for retail at 2.49 euros.

The salmon ready meals were additions to Costa's Wildlachs-Pfanne "a la Mediterrana," featuring wild salmon with a variety of creamy sauces. The two newest sauces are Tomate-Olive and Zitrone-Salbei (lemon-sage). The frozen fish is ready after less than 10 minutes in the pan, but the cook must add 75ml of cream.

"With the Wildlachs-Pfanne 'a la Mediterrana,'" said Costa Product Manager Tim Schwertner, "we stand alone in the fish ready meal segment."

The salmon in these products were hatched in the upper reaches of west coast rivers, from which they migrated to the North Pacific off US and Canada. The organisms on which they feed, mainly shellfish and krill, are said to impart a particularly delicate taste.

With the two new baguettes, ready to eat after 14 to 17 minutes in the oven, Costa is joining an important trend. More and more people are dining alone and getting away from the tradition of three meals a day. The Lachs Baguettes, two to a pack, are spread with a mixture of salmon, diced onions, chopped parsley, melted cheese and a tuna fish sauce. The Garnellen Baguettes feature South Pacific shrimp, garlic cloves, melted cheese and a herb-garlic sauce. The 260-gram folded box is suggested for retail at 1.99 euros.