KHAMSIN & ZEFIRO: Seasoning as Part of the Complete Snack Production Line

ESG-ITALY is known as a general contractor and system integrator for complete snack production lines. Why did you decide to include seasoning solutions in your offering?

ESG-ITALY is first and foremost a general contractor and system integrator. Our work involves looking at the line as a whole, bringing together processing, product handling, seasoning, packaging and automation.

Through our work on complete lines, seasoning naturally became an area of focus, because it directly affects the quality and consistency of the final product.

We see it as part of the process, rather than as a standalone machine. It needs to be correctly sized and integrated with everything happening upstream and downstream.

This is why we chose to include KHAMSIN and ZEFIRO in our offering: two different solutions designed for different production requirements, both built around the same approach to line integration that defines ESG.

Based on your experience with snack production lines, what are the most critical factors in achieving uniform and consistent seasoning throughout production?

One of the main challenges is maintaining a constant ratio between the amount of product entering the system and the amount of seasoning applied.

In practice, a production line does not always operate at its nominal throughput. Product flow can vary during production and, if dosing does not follow these variations, the result on the product inevitably changes too.

When assessing a seasoning system, we therefore consider it essential that seasoning application can be controlled according to the actual product flow.

The objective is not simply accurate dosing. It is maintaining a consistent recipe on the product throughout the entire production run.

KHAMSIN and ZEFIRO share the same approach to integration but address different production requirements. How did you distinguish the two systems?

KHAMSIN and ZEFIRO are not simply two sizes of the same machine. They are two solutions designed for different production requirements and line configurations.

However, both share the same fundamental principle: measuring how much product is actually passing through the system in real time and adjusting the amount of seasoning applied accordingly.

Product flow is measured dynamically, while seasoning dosing is controlled using loss-in-weight technology. The system continuously correlates these two values and adjusts dosing to maintain a consistent recipe, even when the actual product flow changes.

ZEFIRO is designed to operate directly before the multihead weigher. This allows seasoning to be dedicated to an individual packaging line and provides considerable flexibility when handling different products and flavours.

KHAMSIN, on the other hand, uses a centralised approach and is typically installed at the beginning of the process line, where it can handle higher throughputs and subsequently supply multiple packaging lines.

So we are talking about two different architectures, rather than a small and a large version. Both are based on the same principle of gravimetric precision, with the choice depending on the overall line configuration.

KHAMSIN and ZEFIRO can be configured for dry, wet and slurry applications. How do you identify the most suitable solution and configuration for each project?

There is no single seasoning configuration that is right for every application. The correct configuration depends on the product, the recipe, the required capacity and, above all, how the line is organised.

KHAMSIN and ZEFIRO can handle different application methods, including dry, wet and slurry, but the choice is not based solely on the seasoning the customer wants to use.

We assess the product, the application method, the actual throughput, the number of packaging lines, the frequency of product and flavour changes, and the level of flexibility required.

From there, we define which system to use, where to position it within the line and how to integrate it with the existing process.

This is exactly where our role as a system integrator comes into play: we do not adapt the line to the machine; we configure the seasoning system to work correctly within the line.

How important is integration with the rest of the line, and what changes for the customer when ESG manages that integration?

It is extremely important, because a seasoning system never works in isolation.

It needs to receive the product in the right conditions, measure the actual throughput, coordinate with the feeding system and, downstream, with product distribution to packaging.

This is why mechanical, electrical and control integration are just as important as dosing accuracy itself.

This is where ESG adds value as a general contractor and system integrator. We do more than install a machine within a line: we ensure it works correctly as part of the entire process, from engineering through to commissioning.

For the customer, this means having a single point of contact who takes responsibility for integration and the interfaces between the different systems.

Thank you for explaining the technology and thinking behind the two systems. To close, a question about their names: KHAMSIN and ZEFIRO are named after two very different winds. Why did you choose them?

Thank you for this question, because it is more than a matter of curiosity. It gives us an opportunity to explain something about the philosophy we wanted to associate with these systems.

Khamsin is a hot, intense wind associated particularly with Egypt, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Zefiro, meanwhile, is the name traditionally given to the west wind, a gentler, lighter breeze deeply rooted in Mediterranean imagery.

We liked the idea of winds because they travel across different regions and, in our imagination, carry the scents, aromas and characteristics of the places they encounter.

This felt like a natural association for technology dedicated to seasoning: something that accompanies the product and gives it flavour, identity and character.

KHAMSIN and ZEFIRO have different personalities, just like the two systems, but they belong to the same idea.

We liked the idea of giving a highly precise, rational technology a connection to nature, evoking the journey of scents and aromas.