PROCESS
ABOUT OUR PROCESS
The manufacturing process of our panela in its different presentations begins with:
• Cane grinding process: Process that consists of extracting sugar cane juice.
• Clarification process of sugarcane juice: It consists of the separation of foreign matter from the juice through temperature, pH stabilization and natural flocculants.
• Sugarcane Juice Evaporation Process: During this stage the sugarcane juice is subjected to high temperatures in a short period of time to evaporate the water immersed in the juice, this juice concentrates the juice until it becomes honey syrup.
• Granulation Process: the honey from the evaporation process is taken and transformed until it reaches the point of panela. Once this point is reached, the honey goes from a liquid to a solid state, resulting in millions of panela grains in different shapes and sizes ready to be taken to the packaging processes.
• All these processes are supported by quality and social responsibility standards for the peace of mind of our clients.
The juice then enters the first heater, where it is heated to 60 degrees, once it reaches that temperature it flows onto a second heater to bring the temperature up to 100 degrees. At this point the natural flocculant, crushed tree bark, is used to capture the impurities and separate them from the juice.
These impurities or “muds” are filtered again to recover any juice that might have been trapped in them. The juice is sent back to the process to be concentrated. The resulting product of this filtration is a dry mass that is used in our own organic fertilizer, which will serve to nourish the sugar cane plantations.
The now clarified juice begins a concentration process done by raising the temperature in five different evaporators. This process allows for water to evaporate reducing and concentrating the juice until it reaches a syrup like consistency. Once the appropriate point is reached the granulation process begins by a natural reaction.
Once granulated, the final product is packed in bags for subsequent sifting and final packaging according to what is requested by each individual client. The product is then passed through metal detectors to verify the quality of the product one last time.
As part of quality controls throughout all the process described, we have certifications such as FSSC 22000, HACCP and SMETA, to ensure client satisfaction and product value.