Process

Our production process is part of what makes us special. Due to over 40 years of experience, we have a unique production process that results in the best breakfast cereals!

Pre-cleaning

Organically grown cereals grow without the use of chemical synthetic pesticides. As a result, the fields contain more weeds between the cereals. This guarantees greater biodiversity around a field. When the cereals arrive, it is therefore first thoroughly cleaned in order to separate weeds, meadow flowers, stones, straw and other residual products from the cereal.

Storage

We store our cereals in silos and to prevent them from mixing, all cereals have a dedicated silo as much as possible. We keep the cereals at the right temperature through proper aeration in these silos. The temperature is closely monitored to prevent (over)heating.

Hulling and cleaning

Oats and barley must be hulled before they can be consumed by humans. For this, we have special machines in-house to separate the wheat (cereal) from the chaff (husk). To get the cereal completely clean, we clean the cereal again after hulling, which is done based on weight. Straw and .chaff, for example, are lighter than the cereals and stones. With different sieves, we clean the cereals entirely and make them ready for the flattening process.

Soaking and flattening

Approximately one day before flattening, the cereal is soaked. After soaking, the cereal is heated under a micronizer (a bed with infrared burners). This ensures that the cereal becomes soft and flexible so that it can be flattened better. In addition, this also ensures a firmer flake with more bite and certain enzymes that could make the cereal bitter are inactivated. We flatten the cereal into flakes with a powerful roller. After flattening, we let the flakes cool and make sure that the excess moisture is lost.

Why our flaking-method is unique

Cereals can be flattened by steaming them first and then flattening them. We use a different method, however. We first humidify the cereal and let the moisture soak into the cereal. Then the cereal is heated and subsequently flattened. Both ways the cereal is heated, but our method provides an added roasted flavour. Our flattening process consists of 3 steps. First, the cereal in the Vibronet is moisturized until the cereal has a moisture content of 17-19%. Normally, the cereal only absorbs moisture through the germ. However, by vibrating the cereal, the cell wall of the cereal opens up a bit, allowing the entire cell wall to absorb moisture. The cereal then stays there for about 2 hours so that the moisture further penetrates the cereal. Then the cereal goes under infrared burners that are 600-900 degrees Celsius. This heats the cereal to approx. 100 degrees Celsius in about 15 seconds. Then the cereal enters a buffer bin where the cereal slowly sinks down into the flattening roller. Here the cereal is flattened into a flake.

Mixing

Our organic cereal flakes are mixed with, among other things, nuts, fruits and other ingredients to form muesli or semi-finished products for granola, crunchies or crunchy muesli.

Baking

The semi-finished products are then baked in our own bakery. We do this in authentically on baking trays that then go into the oven. In this way, we can keep a close eye on the process and produce delicious granola, crispy muesli and crunchies. The products can be sweetened with wheat syrup, agave syrup, cane sugar or apple paste. We are also specialised in baking crispy products with a low sugar content. Within our own brand Meesters van De Halm, we thus also have a low-sugar and protein-rich granola that contains less than 5% sugar. Because of its harmful impact on the environment, we do not use palm oil in our products. We can make baked products in all kinds of flavours according to your wishes. For example with nuts and/or fruits or even with coffee or herbs. We like to innovate, so if you still have a good idea, we are happy to work with you! Voor u kunnen we de gebakken producten in allerlei smaak varianten naar wens maken. Bijvoorbeeld met noten en/of vruchten of zelfs met koffie of kruiden. Wij innoveren graag dus heeft u nog een goed idee dan gaan we hiermee graag met u aan de slag!

Packing

Our packaging process is fully automated. The product is mechanically weighed, packed, sealed and printed with a best-before date and possibly a barcode or product name. On our collecting table, we pack the bags in an outer box on which the best-before date and product name are then also printed. We can, among other things, pack in bags, bag in box, doypack and tubes. In addition to consumer packaging, we can also package the products in industrial packagings such as bulk bags (15 kg), mini-bulk (3-5 kg) and big bags (approx. 500 kg).