The process plant this being designed by two companies, FCC Arquitectos y Oficina de Diseño Integrado.
The process:
To process tilapia a balanced mixture between manpower and machinery is used. This to enable us to create a specialized work source into the area. The machinery used is the latest technology specifically for the processing of tilapia. We are receiving offers from Companies of this type of equipment such as BAADER, PISCES, MAREL.
Tilapia del Sol Processing Plant
Once the fish in the production farm, reached the stage where they are ready to be sent to the processing plant, the shipment team proceed to extract them into reception pools.
The Acclimatization tank is filled with water of a temperature of no more than 10ºC to that of the water of the reception pools.
Machinery Section
Each morning the fish are pumped into the Acclimatization tank, where they remain for a period of five minutes of less.
Annexed to this tank, there is a grill selector which separates the small fish from the big ones. The smaller are taken to the production lines, whilst the larger ones, are process inside the plant.
The big fish are bled by means of the unilateral cut of the artery aorta; next, they are passed onto a tombola where they remain for a maximum of five minutes, to expel the blood from their bodies
On exiting the tombola, they are placed in vats of stainless steel where after accumulating 150 kilos they are lifted, weighed and registered. They are then de-scaled in the de-scaling tank.
After being de-scaled the heads are removed. The viscera is then extracted from the body, before being deposited in a refrigerated tombola.
Filleting and Preparation Section
The body is cut into two parts lengthwise, and prepared to client specification. The fillets are then passed through Quality Control, to check the texture of the meat, cuts, parasites, etc.
Chill Section
The fillets are individually chilled with the help of ice, and immersed in containers for 2 minutes at most. The fish are separated by weight, and then cooled to a temperature of 2oc using the IQF cooled tunnel system.
Packing Section
The packing process is based on the order received by the sales department that day.
Below is the packing guidelines:
Fresh or frozen product
Whole or fillet
If it is whole:
With or without scales and kilograms or pounds
Boned or unboned and kilograms or pounds
If it is a fillet:
Cut type and kilograms or pounds
Size of cut and kilograms or pounds
And lastly the packing type in which they want their product.
The Tilpia is then packed in Styrofoam boxes,
Distribution and loading Section
The boxes are checked against an order list, and sent to the corresponding holding section i.e. national product, frozen product and export product, before being forwarded to the client.
Waste Section
All the waste is kept in separate tanks for forward transportation to Planta de Harina.
