Approved Fire Alarms and Weatherproof Devices Secure Food Factory
A leading Dutch food manufacturer has contracted installers JTI Brandbeveiliging to help make safety a number one priority at their new food production factory. They chose Hochiki Europe’s Latitude fire detection system, alongside weatherproof devices from the ESP range.
This comprehensive solution ensures the highest level of fire protection throughout the facility, giving the food manufacturer peace of mind and allowing them to focus on what they do best – producing delicious food.
Kervo is a specialist in the high quality cultivation and processing of fruit in the Netherlands. The Vossen family have grown Morello cherries in their orchards in Roggel, the Netherlands since 1980. The family were one of the first growers in the region to use mechanical harvesting in the 80s.
Finest Quality Fruit
Fast forward 43 years and Kervo now runs operations across Europe and the UK and is proud of its reputation for offering the finest quality fruit to bakeries and fresh food processors.
JTI Brandbeveiliging was founded in 2009 and is trusted by its customers for advice, installations, repairs and the maintenance of fire protection systems across the region.
The team, led by Luciën van Eldijk, was commissioned in 2022 to design and fit the fire safety system that would be integrated into Kervo’s new manufacturing plant in Neer. One of the complexities of this project was that during food production, and particularly during the cleaning processes, significant amounts of steam are generated, leading to false alarms.
Van Eldijk explains how he and the team navigated this issue: “In food production sites like this, it is essential for the machinery to remain clean throughout the entire process.
Countering False Alarms from Steam
"This means there is a lot of steam and water present, which unfortunately can trigger false alarms. We needed to install devices that could negate this issue; Hochiki’s weatherproof call points, sounders and sensors were the perfect solution, and they work seamlessly with the Latitude fire safety system.”
Latitude, which is BOSEC approved – a requirement for fire detection devices and systems in the Netherlands – has a powerful network-wide cause and effect capability. The system has the capacity to support 5,000 entries, with up to 20,000 inputs and 20,000 outputs across the network. The new building at Kervo is a huge facility; at over 40 meters in height, it required over 2.5 km of cabling and hundreds of fire detection devices to secure the building, making the Latitude system the best solution.
Van Eldijk says: “Due to the nature of this project, there have been some technical aspects where we have needed to seek advice, but the team at Hochiki have been very helpful in working with us to create the best solution for our customer.
We choose Hochiki products and systems because they are reliable, easy to install, and most importantly meet the high standards and regulations required by the laws of the Netherlands – we would recommend Hochiki products for this reason.”
Hochiki’s analog addressable range (ESP intelligent) together with the Latitude system are EN 54 Part 13 certified and, with the BOSEC certification also in place, they provide the best complete and compliant fire detection system for businesses across the Belgium region as well as bordering countries, such as Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany.
