Copyright  © 1999 COMETEC srl - all rights are reserved.

COMETEC S.r.l. via P. Berlendis , 8 - 24123 Bergamo - Italy

what is MAP? Quite simply, and as its name implies, MAP is food packaging in which the earth’s normal breathable atmosphere has been modified in some way. This modification is usually combined with a lowered temperature, which means it is a highly effective method of extending the shelf life of a wide range of foodstuffs. In the UK MAP mainly involves the use of three gases - carbon dioxide, nitrogen and oxygen - although other gases are in use around the world. Products are generally packed in combinations of the gas trio, with the mix dependent on the physical and chemical properties of the food. Perhaps nowhere can rival the UK in its extended use of MAP. Food producers here have taken to the technique in droves, with the logistical, demographic and cultural structure of the British Isles making them so ideal for MAP use that few companies with a fresh or chilled food operation can carry on without it. These are some of MAP’s benefits: SHELF LIFE EXTENSION: Depending on the product, the time an item can remain on display in a supermarket or shop can usefully be extended by between 50 and 500 per cent using MAP techniques. This means waste is minimised and ordering and restocking are more flexible. MINIMISATION OF WASTE: If there is a greater chance of a product being sold, as there is with MAP because food can be displayed longer, there is obviously less chance of having to throw it away at the end of its life - which will come no matter how effective MAP has been in prolonging it. QUALITY: There are obvious advantages for both retailer and consumer in having food, which deteriorates at a slower rate as it makes its journey from place of production to the domestic kitchen, fridge or freezer. PRESENTATION: Because MAP products can’t merely be wrapped in film - they have to be encased, usually in a tray - retailers have every opportunity to package more attractively. So visual display becomes another key component in MAP's story of effectiveness. REDUCING THE NEED FOR ARTIFICIAL PRESERVATIVES: In a world where we are all intent on becoming 'greener' in our outlook, with a determination to do all we can to protect the environment, there are advantages to getting rid of as many additives as possible. The goal is food, which is NATURALLY fresh and in some cases using MAP means that no artificial preservatives are required at all to achieve a reasonable shelf life. All these benefits have wide-ranging applications but they are particularly pertinent to those engaged in production of ready meals and cook-chill products. MAP can significantly extend the shelf life of a whole range of such products. Apart from delaying microbial spoilage, the use of a carbon dioxide/nitrogen gas mix (in a 2:1 ratio) has also been found to delay the development of oxidative warmed-over flavour. Cook-chill means food is hygienically prepared, pasteurised and rapidly chilled to between zero and three degrees centigrade. Food is then stored at similar temperatures before being reheated to 70 degrees C for a period prior to consumption. Under Department of Health guidelines issued in 1989 for cook-chill for the catering industry, the maximum recommended shelf life for products is five days. But this period can be extended if the food is packed under modified atmosphere conditions or cooked under vacuum for the retail market. Tests have shown that for ready meals and cook chill products with a shelf life of two to five days, modified atmosphere packaging can increase this to between five and 10 days - a hugely worthwhile life extension. Among ready prepared foods which can benefit are those containing fish, game, meat, pasta, poultry and vegetables as well as casseroles, soups and sauces. The Advisory Committee for Microbiological Safety of Foods has looked into this whole topic and has concluded that chilled foods with a shelf life shorter than 10 days should, if kept at chilled temperatures, present a minimal risk of the growth of toxin production by clostridium botulinum. The principal method of spoilage of ready meals and other cook-chill products is microbial growth, caused primarily by post cooking contamination, poor temperature control or a combination of the two. Strict control over temperature, handling and hygiene should obviously be maintained throughout so that MAP can play its full part. If all the guidelines are adhered to ready meal producers, packers and retailers anxious to join the trend towards convenience, both for packing and display, will find rich rewards coming from any venture into MAP. Many have tried and few have failed. Indeed, the majority of the system’s devotees find it hard to contemplate what life was like without it. Cometec history is strictly connected to the professional growth of its founder, Riccardo Valli, who got his training in several years' working within the designing and development departments of producers who have always been leading figures in the vacuum packaging sector. Since 1985 Valli has been giving the whole sector an innovative impulse deserving several quotations in many technical magazines, and among the various instances he can boast in his curriculum some crucial moments in the technical evolution of vacuum packaging, such as , for example the introduction of the so-called EVC (electronic vacuum control) digital system, that, by means of an advanced and reliable digital control, ensures the achievement of vacuum values featuring no margin of mistake, reaching the best quality/price ratio and the subsequent time and working cycle saving the engineering of the so-called «pipe-less» monobloc group, directly sucking up from the pump to the cap with no pipes and joints, this way eliminating any risk of possible loss of the suction circuit. All this is matched by a decisive design contribution given to this sector, that actually turned most of the tank sizes featuring European manufacturing into the same characterizing Cometec production standard. As it has often happened in many successful case histories, the technician, already become a sort of mentor in the whole sector, ends up changing into a businessman and in 1994 founding Cometec D.I.: a company expressly established to supply the study of the prototypes, the design and the setting-up of vacuum packaging machines. Relying on these premises, as well as on such a technical heritage, in 1998 Cometec S.r.l. is born. This business initiative is to be placed within a wider industrial group, called «MCS GROUP», dealing with the mechanical and electronic sector and counting over 500 employees and a consolidated turnover exceeding €. 150 million yearly. Thanks to the most articulated resources and to the synergies with its partners, well-known in the most important and strategic industrial fields, Cometec can nowadays offer a «State of the Art» range including vacuum packaging machines and characterized by the small models, to be installed on benches, flexible and multi-purpose, and by the automatic ones, conceived for specific industrial applications. This way Cometec has always been focusing on making its brand successful, enhancing the technical contents and the know-how characterizing its products, as well as basing its marketing strategy on the most fundamental key points Product reliability, ensured by design solutions, by parts carefully selected according to the previously realized applications, as well as by the strictest quality controls, both in the assembly stage and during final testing User-friendship, guaranteed thanks to the engineering standards achieved, so to enable any operator to employ the machines with simple gestures. The company customer service also gives the opportunity to dedicate several technical peculiarities featuring the machine itself to the requirements of the end user. Il Team COMETEC progetta e costruisce, CON PASSIONE, confezionatrici sottovuoto a campana e termosigillatrici per vaschette in atmosfera protettiva. La gamma macchine parte dai modelli piccoli, da banco per la ristorazione e la grande distribuzione, fino a modelli automatici dedicati a specifiche applicazioni industriali. Le più recenti innovazioni riguardano le termosigillatrici automatiche in linea a più piste di carico, adatte alla sigillatura veloce di vaschette preformate e piatti pronti nel settore del Catering e al confezionamento sottovuoto in atmosfera modificata protettiva di prodotti gastronomici, anche con liquido di governo, pesce, carni, salumi, formaggi, ortaggi,verdure ed altri articoli tecnici industriali dei vari settori non-food e medicale. Nel corso della sua attività, COMETEC si è distinta più volte per i primati e le invenzioni,quali il sistema digitale “EVC” (Electronic Vacuum Control) che garantisce valori di vuoto senza margine d’errore, l’ingegnerizzazione del gruppo monoblocco “Pipe-less” per l’aspirazione diretta da pompa a campana, senza rischi di perdite, l’evoluzione ed il primato del “cambio stampo rapido” e molti altri. Cometec mira ad una affermazione del marchio che valorizzi le soluzioni progettuali grazie al Know-how, alle scelte della componentistica, selezionata sulla scorta delle applicazioni precedenti ed ai severi controlli di qualità sia in fase di assemblaggio che durante i collaudi finali. The COMETEC Team designs and manufactures, WITH PASSION, vacuum chamber packaging machines and protective atmosphere thermal tray-sealers. The range of equipment starts from smaller over the counter models for catering and large distribution and goes up to automatic models dedicated to specific industrial applications. The most recent innovation can be found in automatic in-line thermal sealers with multiple loading conveyor belts, suitable for quick sealing of premolded trays and ready made dishes in the catering business and vacuum packaging in modified protective atmosphere of gastronomical products, with their own maintenance liquid, fish, meat, delicatessen, cheese, vegetables, greens and other industrial technical articles of the various non-food and medical sectors. During the course of its activity COMETEC has repeatedly distinguished itself with lead achievements and inventions, such as the “EVC” digital system (Electronic Vacuum Control) that guarantees vacuum values with no margin of error, the engineering of the “Pipe less” single unit group for direct suction from pump to vacuum chamber, with no risk of losses in the circuit, the evolution and leadership of the “quick mold changing system” and many others. COMETEC aims at asserting its brand name by giving value to design solutions founded on know-how, on its careful selection of components, based on previous applications,and on strict quality control performed during assembly as well as during the final tests. Das COMETEC-Team projektiert und baut, MIT LEIDENSCHAFT, Glockenvakuumanfertigungsanlagen und Thermoversiegelungsanlagen für Wannen in beschützter Umgebung. Die Auswahl fängt bei kleineren Modellen an,Ladentische für Gastwirtschaften und Grossverteiler, bis zu automatrischen Modellen für spezifische Industrieanwendungen. Die letzten Neuigkeiten sind die Thermoversiegelungsmaschinen für mehrere Produktionslinien, adaptiert an eine Schnellversiegelung von vorgeformten Gefässen und Fertiggerichte im Catering-Bereich und bei der Vakuumverpackung in geschützter Umgebung von Gastronomieprodukten, auch mit Nasskonserven, Fisch, Fleisch, Fleischwaren, Käse, Gemüse und andere technische Industrieartikel im Non-Food und Medizinbereich. In ihren Aktivitätsverlauf hat sich COMETEC durch ihren Vorrang und ihre Erfindungen ausgezeichnet. Wie z.B. das „EVC“ (Elecronic Vaccum Control) Digitalsystem, das Vakuumwerte ohne Fehlraum ermöglicht, die Erzeugung des „Pipe-less“ Zylinderblocks zum direkten Aufsaugen von Glockenpumpen ohne Verlustrisiko, die Entwicklung und Vorrang des „Schnellwechselstempels“ u.A. Cometec zielt auf eine Behauptung der Marke die die Entwurfslösung bewertet dank dem „Know-How“, Bestandteilauswahl, durch die Verfolgung der vorherigen Anwendungen und scharfen Qualitätskontrollen sei es während des Zusammenbaus oder der Endabfertigungen. El equipo COMETEC proyecta y construye, COM PASIÓN, maquinarias a campana para empaque a vacuo y máquinas termoselladoras de cubas en atmósfera protegida. La gama de maquinarias comienza con los modelos menores de mesa para el sector de los restaurantes y la gran distribución, hasta llegar a los modelos automáticos proyectados especialmente para el uso industrial. Las innovaciones más recientes se refieren a las termoselladoras en línea con diversas pistas de abastecimiento y que son propias para sellar rápidamente cubas preformadas y platos listos para uso en el sector de Catering, bien como para el empaque de productos alimenticios a vacuo en atmósfera modificada y protegida, aún para productos conservados dentro del propio caldo, pescado, carnes, fríos, quesos, hortalizas, verdura y otros productos técnicos industriales de los diversos sectores no alimenticios y médicos. Dentro de sus actividades, COMETEC se caracterizó diversas veces por sus récordes e invenciones, como el sistema digital “EVC” (Electronic Vacuum Control) que garantiza valores de vacuo sin margen de error, la ingeniosidad del grupo de unidad compacta integrada "Pipe less" para la aspiración directa de la bomba de campana sin tener riesgos de pérdida, la evolución y el récord del "cambio rápido del molde" y mucho más. Cometec tiene el objetivo de fortalecer la propia marca valorizando las soluciones de los proyectos gracias a su know-how, a las elecciones de los componentes. Le Team COMETEC projette et construit, AVEC PASSION, des conditionneuses sous vide à cloche et des thermoformeuses pour barquettes sous atmosphère protégé. Notre gamme de machine commence par de petits modèles, des bancs pour la restauration et la grande distribution jusqu’aux modèles automatiques, adaptés aux applications industrielles spécifiques. Les innovations les plus récentes se concentrent sur les thermoformeuses en ligne, comprenant plusieurs pistes de chargement, adaptées au cachetage rapide de barquettes pre-formées et de plats prêts pour le secteur du Catering et au conditionnement sous vide en atmosphère modifié et protégée de produits gastronomiques contenant des liquides de traitement, du poisson, de la viande, de la charcuterie, des fromages, des légumes et d’autres articles techniques industriels des différents secteurs du non-food et médical. Au cours de son activité, COMETEC s’est plusieurs fois distinguée par des prix et des innovations, tel que le système digital « EVC » (Electronic Vacuum Control) qui garantit les valeurs du maintient sous vide sans marge d’erreur, l’ingéniérisation du groupe monobloc « Pipe-less » pour l’aspiration par le biais d’une pompe à cloche sans aucune perte, l’évolution et la primauté du « changement rapide de matrice » et tant d’autre. Cometec vise à affirmer sa marque pour valoriser les solutions de projet grâce au savoir-faire, au choix des composants, sélectionnés par rapport aux applications précédentes et aux sévères controles.

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