AMRISA Ice Market, Seafood

Chile

Built in Puerto Montt, the IceMarket, SA ice plant was designed to produce and deliver high quality flake ice to salmon farms, taking special care regarding sanitation.  Alberto Mayer Ueberrhein, a partner in the IceMarket plant, explains, “Most of the plants in our country do not have appropriate storage and ice handling facilities, so even if they produce good quality ice, the ice is ruined due to the unsanitary conditions during ice handling and storage.  In order to have clean ice, an ice rake is a must.”

the project

The IceMarket plant uses two North Star Model 90 flake ice makers and a North Star HMR 6300 modular ice rake system.  The ice rake is fitted into an integrated structural steel storage bin, which provides a clean storage space for the ice.  The rake is used to distribute the ice in the bin and also to automatically discharge the ice on demand.  Automatic delivery also helps to minimize the introduction of pathogens to the ice by eliminating the need to enter the ice storage bin or manually shovel the ice.  Mayer explains, “The North Star ice rake installed at IceMarket makes the difference between our facility and most others.  Using it, we can guarantee delivery of clean, uncontaminated ice to our customers.”

Stainless steel screw conveyors deliver the ice to plastic totes, which are then transported to salmon harvesting points.  Once the salmon are harvested, they are cooled immediately in these totes, then transported to the processing plants.

client feedback

Mayer chose North Star ice makers and handling equipment because of the product’s strong construction, reliability and good performance.  “With North Star, once they are installed and adjusted, we can be 100 percent sure that the machines will deliver the promised ice production capacity,” he said.  “Also due to North Star’s strong construction, which you don’t see on most of the machines; we can rely on them not to fail during operation. That is extremely important, because our operation is seasonal; from October to February, we run at 100 percent capacity,” he added.

To meet the growing demand for ice in the rapidly expanding Chilean salmon farming business, IceMarket will expand their present operation with two additional North Star Model 90 flake ice makers this year.  Future installations are also planned for other regions in Chile.