FAQ

Shelf life

We grant 1 year shelf life from production date for potato based pellet and 2 years shelf life for cereal based pellet, when product is kept in optimal storage conditions. When the product is fried, its duration depends on many different variables such as packaging film quality, oil, room temperature, weather, humidity, so that the shelf life of the fried snack should be at least 3 months.

Storage conditions

Optimal storage conditions for pellets are a dry place, protected from sunlight, temperature of 15°÷25°C and humidity of 40÷70%.

Raw pellet/fried product: how many kg of fried snack can be obtained by frying 1 kg of pellets?

Elements to be taken into account are: oil absorption, average raw and fried pellets’ moisture percentages:

i.e.: Pellet “X”
oil absorption = 20%
average raw pellet moisture = 12 %
average fried pellet moisture = 2.5%
Now you can calculate the ratio between dry fried product (without oil and water) and dry pellet (without water). The formula in terms of percentage is the following: (100 – 2.5 – 20)/(100 – 12)= 0.88, which means that you need 880 gr of pellet in order to obtain 1 Kg of fried product.

About Bulk Density (B/D)

Bulk Density is the key parameter for bag-filling of pellets after frying. It is calculated in grams/litre, it tells you how many grams of fried product can fit into a 1 litre volume. Suggested dimensions of the testing jug are diameter = height. B/D depends on many elements such as: raw materials, degree of gelatinization, drying process, moisture. A pellet giving a fried snack with low B/D is convenient since you need a lower quantity of fried pellets to fill in the bag.

Minimum Order Quantity

The quantity carried by 1x40ft container, corresponding to 12÷20 ton approximately.

Our range of products

In our range we have almost 90 different items which are manufactured on yearly basis: most of them are potato based, but there is also an assortment of cereal based items.

Technology

All our products are developed by using our own exclusive internal technology.

Packaging system

Pellets stay inside polyethylene bags, which are put in carton boxes, stacked and wrapped upon wooden pallets. The weight of a carton box depends on the specific weight of the pellet in it: it may range between 12 and 23 kg; an identification code of the single production batch is stamped on every carton. Since in Mafin 1 single production batch corresponds to 1 single pallet, 1x40ft container loaded with 21 pallets, has at least 21 production batch numbers.

Pellets’ oil absorption

Most of fried snack pellets have an oil content between 20% and 30%, while a regular potato crisp has normally an oil content above 35%. When snack pellets are obtained through expansion in an oven, the oil content is almost zero, but then it’s necessary to add oil between 5% and 10%. Such content is due to the oil spraying on the surface of the expanded snack, which is required in order to stick a flavour to the product as well as to lubricate the mouth while chewing it.

Costs of NON quality

By opting for suppliers who are not focused on pellets nor on high quality, the real risks may be linked to possible periods of unavailability for pellets (due to too much long delivery time or lack of ingredients to be used by the supplier, especially for potato ingredients), impossibility of easy volume growth (due to supplier’s limited production capacity), difficulty of being easily recognized and unique to customers’ eyes (because your pellet supplier does not invest in R&D), variability and inconsistency of your snack’s organoleptic characteristics (i.e.: texture) during the year, uncertainty linked to the introduction in the market of snacks which may not fulfil all the food safety standards. From production point of view, using not first quality pellets may deal to frequent stops in the process because of missing narrow specifications, for instance, concerning bulk density, moisture, and % of brakeage and defects.

Advantages of opting for a high quality pellet supplier

Snack producers who prefer high quality pellet for their products expect the suppliers of pellet to grant, supplies without any interruption (thanks to redundant production capacity along with consolidated relationships with raw materials suppliers), flexibility of matching the trend of the demand for snacks (linked to seasonality and/or promotions), capability of investing and developing unique products, which could boost the value of customer’s offer on the market. The product must keep a high and consistent quality all year around, by respecting strict agreed specifications and current legislation.