How a Plate Heat Exchanger Eliminated Candy Quality Problems — and Removed an Ingredient from the Label
A leading Canadian confectionery manufacturer was struggling with failing tubular heat exchangers and inconsistent candy production. API Heat Transfer engineered a plate heat exchanger system that improved product quality, increased yield, lowered costs, and even eliminated the need for a food additive — all within the same floor footprint.
Company
Dare Foods
Location
Ontario, Canada
Industry
Food & Beverage
Application
Candy / Confectionery Cooking & Evaporation
Technology
Plate Heat Exchanger (SIGMA 7 + SIGMA 26)
Brand
Schmidt®
The Cost of Aging Equipment
For more than 120 years, family-owned Dare Foods has been producing high-quality snack foods — including cookies, crackers, fine breads, and candy — selling to customers throughout North America and in more than 50 countries worldwide.
At Dare's Toronto manufacturing plant, tubular heat exchangers and batch kettles powered the cook process for its candy production line. When that aging equipment began to fail, Dare executives hired Confectionery Consultant Walter Vink to evaluate replacement options.
Dare initially expected to replace like-for-like. But the consultant identified a more significant problem: replacing the existing two-stage tubular system would require a full unit redesign plus ASME and CRN certifications to meet legal code requirements — a costly and time-consuming path.
Each Failure Meant:
- Unplanned production downtime
- Lost product and rework costs
- Inconsistent candy quality — discoloration, blowouts at wrapping stage
- Large volumes of waste from non-uniform concentrate streams
- Safety risks from high-temperature process requirements
- Maintenance burden on plant operations team
Engineering Partnership, Not Just a Purchase Order
API's team didn't start with a catalog. They started with questions — and a pilot.
Discovery
Understanding the Real Process Challenge
The consultant reached out to the Plate & Thermal Systems Group at API Heat Transfer in Buffalo, New York, having learned of API's success engineering plate heat exchanger processes for two of the top five candy makers in the world.
Plate heat technology offers a distinct advantage for high-concentration sugar applications: it enables continuous boiling at lower approach temperatures, which heats the candy more gently and delivers more consistent concentration — eliminating the need for the high-temperature flash-and-vacuum method that Dare's old tubular system relied on.
To prove the concept, API shipped its pilot equipment to Toronto. A process engineer from API's Plate & Thermal Systems Group traveled on-site to demonstrate the difference between flashing and continuous cooking firsthand. The Dare team tested the equipment themselves — and the results spoke for themselves.
Key Findings from Pilot:
- Continuous boiling produces more consistent concentration than vacuum flashing
- Lower operating temperatures reduce sugar discoloration (yellowing)
- Plate technology eliminates the need for titanium dioxide whitening agent
- Product quality in pilot exceeded expectations — Dare executives said: "That's a winner!"
Delivery Timeline
Weeks 1–2Custom Engineering Solution
Designed Around Dare's Exact Requirements
Dare asked API to design a system to remove water from a 70% solid solution, achieving a 98.5% solid solution — leaving only 1.5% or less water in the final product.
In a high-solids sugar solution, the sugar molecule binds tightly to the water molecule, requiring more energy to drive off the moisture — a phenomenon known as boiling point elevation. For 98.5% solids, this requires 140°C at atmospheric conditions. API engineered a solution using steam at 148°C, compatible with Dare's existing 50 psig boiler — no new utility infrastructure required.
The Solution: API designed and built a two-component system at its Buffalo facility:
- SIGMA 7 Plate Heat Exchanger — Preheater: Brings the incoming sugar solution up to boiling temperature, reducing the size of the evaporator required and ensuring proper distribution.
- SIGMA 26 Plate Heat Exchanger — Evaporator: Once preheated solution enters at boiling temperature, rapid boiling action accelerates the sugar solution through the heat transfer channels — minimizing residence time and protecting product quality.
- Three-way divert valves engineered throughout the system — open automatically during a power outage, directing sugar to the floor to protect equipment
- Customer's existing positive displacement pump incorporated into the new system design
- System pre-assembled at API's Buffalo facility, then shipped to Toronto for installation
- API engineer traveled to site to supervise re-erection and conduct operator training
- New system fit within the same floor footprint as the old tubular system
- API designed an elevated platform, enabling operators to walk around the equipment for easier maintenance and servicing
- CRN- and ASME-certified — no additional certification work required by Dare
Delivery Timeline
Weeks 3–5The Results
Better Candy. Lower Costs. Simpler Operations.
Reliability
- Zero unplanned failures since installation
- Consistent concentrate stream eliminates "blowouts" at Chocolate Mint wrapping stage
- Dramatically reduced production stoppages and cleanup time
- System designed with power-outage protection built in
Product Quality
- Better color: lower color formation at reduced operating temperatures — white candy stays white
- Better taste: gentler heating preserves flavor integrity
- Better viscosity: uniform concentrate stream throughout production
- Titanium dioxide (whitening agent) removed from candy formulation and ingredient label
Operational Improvements
- New system fits same footprint as old tubular system
- Elevated platform improves operator access for maintenance and servicing
- Computer-controlled instrumentation with intuitive HMI display — operators can monitor and adjust the process far more easily than previous equipment
- Avoided costly redesign and re-certification of existing tubular system
Customer Testimonial
"That's a winner!"
— Dare Foods Executive, upon seeing the first candy produced on the new system
"The candy was even better quality than what was produced during the pilot."
— Dare Foods Plant Operations
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