Dogs and cats, just to name a few of our furry friends, give many of us comfort and increase our well-being. Shouldn’t they deserve healthy and nutritious food? Certainly yes and that perception has driven the boosting petfood-market for years already! Dehydrated vegetables are playing a major role in the concept of petfood based dry blends. Dried vegetables can also be incorporated into petfood-snacks. The possibilities are endless. But the standards applied to ingredients for petfood-applications should not be lower than what we expect from food for human consumption. Food-Safety and the quality of our ingredients that go into petfood are never compromised.
THE ADVANTAGES OF DEHYDRATED VEGETABLES
The advantages of dehydrated vegetables compared to other forms of non-dried vegetables are significant. Retail-, institutional- and industrial users enjoy these benefits. Here’s why:
Reasons why dehydrated vegetables have become the ingredients of choice in many food applications:
• Dried vegetables are 100% ready to use (no waste). After harvesting, they are taken to the plant for dehydration after scrutinized preparation (washing, cleaning, sizing).
• The enzyme-activity is deactivated during blanching. Blanching may reduce cooking time by 50%.
• Lower packaging, storage and transportation costs since almost 95% of the water content of the vegetables is extracted during the dehydration process, resulting in a substantial reduction of weight and volume. This means: “Less is more”. Reduced packaging needs are beneficial to the environment.
• Economical storage – no freezing or refrigeration required.
LEAD THROUGH QUALITY
We consider it vital that each product bearing the WSCO label has undergone a scrutinized QC that is almost unrivalled. All elements of our supply-chain are frequently monitored and audited. Vegetables grown under the best climatic conditions, matured to their prime ripeness and dehydrated by selected WSCO approved contractors finally end up here in Wittlich, in the heart of Germany before they ship to the food manufactures in Europe, in the United States, Asia or other parts of the World. With devotion and dedication our people accurately work on these vegetables in order to give them the final touch which our customers expect.
Already back in 1995 we had implemented our HACCP-System referring to the EU-guideline 93/94 in our quality-control-system. Through the years our management-system has evolved into a very convincing FSSC22000 certified concept which reflects input from several audits and valued customer feedback and the experience of more than 40 years. The reprocessing-facilities at our plant located in Wittlich, Germany are designed to meet highest expectations with regard to consistent high quality assurance. High-end metal sorting for ferrous and non-ferrous, mechanical and automated sorting, sifting, granulation, milling and blending are the core elements of this control.
In our effort to promote sustainability throughout our supply-chain and guided by our Ethical Trading Policy we are participating in SEDEX and ECOVADIS. We are encouraging producers in the origin to follow the principles of sustainable farming and to help improving working conditions for all the people along the supply-chain.
OUR PRODUCTION IN WITTLICH / MOSEL-RIVER
From the early start back in 1978 W. Schumacher & Co. we have been focussing on becoming one of the leading global suppliers for dehydrated vegetables used as ingredients for the food industry.
Nestled into the picturesque Mosel-River-Valley between Luxemburg and Frankfurt we process several thousand tons of dehydrated vegetables every year with our experienced crew.
We have managed to earn and maintain the trust from well-known food manufacturers around the globe, known for their shining brands made for consumers looking for save and sustainable, nutritious and tasty products such as:
• Dry Soup mixes which taste like home
• Tasty sauces and Marinades you won’t forget
• Seasoning-blends that make a difference
• and Pet-Food that will make your pet fall in love with you, just to name a few examples.
GLOBAL APPROACH & MUTUAL PARTNERSHIPS
The key to our success has been our global approach to the dehydrated vegetables market. The availability of a natural product is determined by many factors, some predictable, others not. Crop failures, shortages, surplusses and volatile prices are not likely to happen at the same time all over the world.
For us portfolio-management means dividing the total risk and spreading the partial risks on different non-correlating sources. With production-facilities in the northern and southern hemisphere and our extensive quality and liability assurance our customers are on the safe side.
By assisting the production-facilities with technical advice and financial support on a long term base W. Schumacher & Company has become one of the most reliable worldwide suppliers of dehydrated vegetables, with minimum price fluctuations over the years.
With a network of food-brokers in the United States and vast warehouse-space in Germany and the United States (Chicago and New Orleans) we can accommodate short-notice inquiries and specialty orders of our clients with short lead-times and great local customer service.