The Brazilian ice cream market finds cool solution with SWEP evaporators

Summer is coming to Brazil, and nothing is better than an ice cold popsicle to help you chill out and enjoy the warmer weather!

Brazil is the 10^th largest ice cream producer in the world, with more than 10,000 companies within the ice cream market there, and a total revenue of around BRL 13 billion/year (USD 2.6 billion/year). This market includes both ice cream and popsicle manufacturers. With all kinds of flavors, textures, sizes, and colors, popsicles account for around 19% of the ice cream market in Brazil. In turn, this represents more than 2.5 billion units of popsicles that are produced per year.

A solid heat transfer solution is required

As part of the popsicle manufacturing process, a solid heat transfer solution is required, and SWEP’s 80AS range of evaporators provide great performance and confidence to popsicle producers. The 80AS adds the advantages of our patented AsyMatrix® technology to deliver increased thermal performance and reduced pressure drop.

Among the ice cream producers, Tropical has had an important role in choosing SWEP as their partner to supply high performance evaporators which bring more efficiency to their machines. Tropical is an ice cream machine manufacturer with an extended portfolio for ice cream and popsicles, and has been an important customer to SWEP for almost 10 years.

One of the main machines Tropical uses in their production process is a popsicle producer with an output rate of up to 32,000 popsicles per hour. The process consists in cooling a mixture of ethanol and water to -22°F (-30°C). This mixture goes into a tank with an agitator that improves the heat exchanging. The popsicle syrup is then housed in molds and enters the tank. The molds are exposed from 30 to 60 seconds in the tank until they reach the necessary temperature to finish the recipe. After this, the popsicles are unformed and then they are then packaged and sent to shipping.

Vital qualities demanded by industrial process and production applications

Popsicles aren’t just delicious, they also contain milk, protein, and vitamins such as A, B1, B2, B6, C, D, K, calcium, and other essential minerals - providing a sweet treat to families in Brazil.

Brazed plate heat exchangers have all the vital qualities demanded by industrial process and production applications. Robust and compact, they offer long-term reliability with minimal maintenance. Their flexible design and SWEP’s ability to customize both the plate and brazing materials bring unbeatable performance and lifetime cost compared with other, older technologies such as Plate & Frame and Shell & Tube.