ZQ375 Checkweigher Helps Krispy Kreme Meet Quality and Hygiene Standards

Krispy Kreme is relying on Avery Weigh-Tronix’s new ZQ375 checkweigher to help maintain its daily doughnut production for the North East of England.

Krispy Kreme’s well-known doughnut shops can be found in over 730 locations in 21 countries around the world. Its new Newcastle (UK) Hotlight store produces 16 different varieties of doughnuts for its own on site retail store, its other regional outlets and retailers such as Tesco.

The company has just installed a 6 kg and a 45kg ZQ375 checkweigher at its Newcastle store to weigh its ingredients prior to baking. Empty containers are placed on the scales and then filled with the ingredients for the batter or the fillings.

Hygienic, IP69K Design

Krispy Kreme prides itself on providing fresh doughnuts daily, so the equipment must be reliable, robust, and easy to clean.

Of particular importance is the scale’s IP69k rated enclosure, which allows the checkweighers to be thoroughly cleaned without fear of water or particle ingress.  It has a smooth, polished surface finish, curved corners and an easy to remove cover.  The design minimizes the growth of micro-organisms on the scale and limits food trap areas where bacteria can thrive.

Accuracy and fast throughput

Says Ollie Kane, service manager for Krispy Kreme:  “As a business it’s important that we get the ingredient mix correct to ensure quality.  The scales are constantly used as we produce fresh doughnuts daily for all of our outlets.  Over the course of a week we will produce 1.3 million doughnuts nationally.

“The new scales are robust, easy to clean, and are also easy to use. The indicator is on top of a column on the scale at a convenient height for the operators and its display is very clear so that they can easily check that the weight of the ingredient is correct.

“Aesthetically the scale is also very attractive, which is important because we sometimes open up the production area so that the public can see what is happening.”

Reliability and durability vital to success

With reliability another key factor for Krispy Kreme, the new checkweigher has a torsion base that is designed to absorb shock loads and has a 500% overload protection.

Says Kane:  “We are committed to providing fresh doughnuts daily so any equipment that we have must be reliable and durable.  In our fast moving world we cannot afford to let our customers down, available fresh product is part of our brand promise.”