VegPro International
Coldstream, British Columbia
VegPro International is family-owned and operated, with a goal to produce high quality products that go from farm to fork. Their new location in the Okanagan Valley has 700 acres of growing fields and a salad processing plant to package fresh, ready made salads. The processing facilities include state of the art produce washing and inspecting conveyor belts to clean, dry, and weigh the leaves.
The processing space requires all equipment installed to be food grade and easily sanitized. The processing space also requires low, stable temperatures around 4°C, which adds a level of complexity when coupled with the high ventilation rates required during the sanitation process. An ammonia refrigeration system was included to cool the large processing spaces, and part of the mechanical design was for a Class T refrigeration room to house the ammonia equipment. A large component of the mechanical design was the water and sanitation piping system used by the process equipment and personnel.
Utilizing low and high pressure systems, we were able to provide large volumes of water to the conveyor belts in the processing space and high pressure water for the washdown process. Soap, sanitizer and compressed air lines also ran throughout the building to ensure easy access for the maintenance staff.
Falcon Engineering partnered with Christman Plumbing and Heating Ltd. on the mechanical design, as part of a design build project structure. The mechanical team worked with the Owners and other consultants to achieve a extremely condensed construction timeline in order to meet the Owner’s production goals at the end of summer 2018. We were able to meet this milestone through effective communication by all teams involved. The facility has been functioning full time since completion and there have been discussions related to expansion of the facility in the future.