Probat equips Costa Coffee’s new Basildon roastery
Probat, a leading manufacturer of plants and machinery for the coffee industry, has provided a complete turnkey roasting plant for Costa Coffee’s new roasting facility in Basildon, Essex, which opened in February.
Working in close co-operation with Costa Coffee’s experts, engineers at Emmerich am Rhein, Germany-based Probat developed a customized plant design for the new roastery. The vast range of equipment supplied by the German manufacturer includes three Neptune drum roasters with a total capacity of 9 tonnes per hour, a green coffee reception, green and roasted coffee silos as well as the complete plant infrastructure including the Pilot Plant control system. The tight timeline proved to be particularly challenging as the complete plant had to be built and put into operation within only six months.
“The new roastery is an important milestone in the long-time partnership between Probat and Costa,” said Wim Abbing, CEO of Probat. “[We offer] needs-oriented solutions and honest advice. Probat takes particular pride in having accomplished this comprehensive turnkey project up to the high standards our customer set in terms of quality, flexibility and efficiency.”
“Probat provided us with a tailor-made sustainable solution for our new coffee processing plant in Basildon,” said Giorgio Fioravanti, production director at Costa Coffee. “To be able to roast the coffee to the same great quality and flavour our customers are used to and to meet our growing global demand, it was vital to have a reliable partner like Probat.”
Gennaro Pelliccia, master of coffee at Costa added, “It’s taken me years to perfect the skills of tasting coffee. Your ability to smell and taste different aromas has to be very precise. Probat roasting machines enable us to use lower temperatures and slow roast to seal in the coffee’s oils and aroma, thus supporting us in delivering the taste experience our customers expect.”
