Founded in 1979, Blue Ridge Beef manufactures raw pet food from its two facilities in North Carolina and Georgia. Products include raw beef (with or without organ meats), chicken with bone, duck with bone and turkey. Owners Steve and Dean pride themselves on food safety, sourcing only U.S. products from local suppliers.

Blue Ridge Beef differentiates itself from other raw-food manufacturers with a strict adherence to grain-free food. Additionally, all products are manufactured as fresh as possible and flash-frozen overnight at minus-20 degrees immediately after packaging.

Blue Ridge Beef currently ships its products along the East Coast; however, as consumer demand for safe, all-natural pet food reaches new levels, Steve and Dean see opportunity for growth. With the goal of growing market share to cover the entire United States, they recognized the need for a faster packaging line.

Flexibility is key

Blue Ridge Beef offers 13 recipes in two- or five-pound chubs. Catering to premium-quality minded breeders and pet owners, they also respond to requests for new formulas. Therefore, the new line had to excel at handling many recipes. Flexibility in handling a variety of coarse and fine products was another consideration. When it came time to research equipment, Blue Ridge Beef contacted Tipper Tie in North Carolina.

“They are local, with a strong reputation and great service. We can’t afford to be down one day on production,” says Steve. Dean agrees: “Customer service is the biggest selling point for us. Anyone can put out a machine, but if it’s not backed with parts and service, the machine is no good. We love the support we get from Tipper Tie.”

Blue Ridge Beef invested in a TTFill60 portion filler and a TT1815 automated double clipper for both production facilities.

Product quality

The TTFill60 is a vane-style stuffer. Blue Ridge formerly had screw-type fillers.

“At first, we weren’t sure how well portioning would work on a vane stuffer,” says Steve. “But we’ve had no issues; consistency has been very good.”

More importantly, Dean says product quality has reached new levels.

“The appearance of our product is critical, so we use a clear plastic film. It’s important for customers to see the quality of the meat before they buy it. The TTFill has very clean-cut portions with no degradation of the product. We’re seeing much better particle definition, which results in an appealing package for the customer,” Dean says.

The company plans to add a new Complete Diet formula this year. The product quality from the TTFill will allow the new ingredient to be seen in the meat. An additional benefit to the TTFill is a consolidated design with all electrical wiring enclosed. This water-tight design makes cleanup fast and easy.

The seamless interface between the filler and clipper, and the overall speed of the two machines, have been pleasant surprises.

“No matter how much we grow, I don’t think our continuous-feed operation will outpace this duo. I have two people running it and they can hardly keep up,” Steve says. Production time has been cut in half at both locations, and overtime has been eliminated. The Georgia facility has gone from a maximum of 4,000 pounds per day to as much as 12,000 pounds a day.

“There is a night-and-day difference going from a manual operation to fully automated,” Dean says. “It’s been a tremendous change and we’re very excited.”

And the faster the product is frozen, the better the shelf life — all good news for the customer. The owners of Blue Ridge Beef were also attracted to the idea of one supplier for two machines.

“Now, we turn to one company for any issue, including consumables. It’s a wonderful thing,” Steve says.

Dean adds, “Single-source supply is the best way to update equipment. It’s the reason we waited for the filler from Tipper Tie instead of going with another supplier. We can call one technician for both machines, with no blame passing between two suppliers.”

 Visit www.tippertie.com for more information.