Capturing authentic flavors with the CookStar
Can an industrial oven match the results of a traditional rotary spit? When Platos Tradicionales wanted to produce authentic Spanish rotisserie chicken on an industrial scale, CookStar came to the rescue.
Customer profile
Platos Tradicionales was born in 2006 with the purpose of meeting the needs of production and sales for ready meals at Mercadona supermarkets. For this reason, two leading companies in their sectors, Martinez Loriente and Fleury Michon, combined their knowledge and experience. The joint effort of both entities has resulted in Platos Tradicionales S.A. that became one of the most modern production plants in Europe, located in Buñol, Valencia, in an area of over 44.000 square meters.
"Our challenge was to create a product of the same quality, with a longer shelf life, on a large scale - so that anyone, anywhere, can walk into a supermarket and enjoy chicken, any day of the week."— José Manuel Martínez
— José Manuel Martínez
The challenge
“At Platos Tradicionales, we always want to stay ahead of technical developments and lead the market,” says Maintenance Director José Manuel Martínez, talking about why his team is proud to work with GEA.
“In Spain, it’s typical to go out on the weekend to a little shop where they cook small batches of chicken,” José explains. “Our challenge was to create a product of the same quality, with a longer shelf life, on a large scale – so that anyone, anywhere, can walk into a supermarket and enjoy a chicken, any day of the week!” Typically, Spanish customers prefer a juicy roast chicken, whereas the Portuguese like their poultry a little dryer, says José. “With the GEA CookStar, we found we can offer both with consistent quality.”
"We always want to stay ahead of technical developments and lead the market."— José Manuel Martínez
— José Manuel Martínez
The right performance
When the Platos Tradicionales team first visited Bakel in NL, over a decade ago, they explored the possibilities of the CookStar ovens versus a rotisserie spit. There, they found that the CookStar provided the high quality they needed, which marked the start of a lasting relationship. José adds: “For the past 10 years, we’ve had two lines producing fantastic chicken products. We often run three shifts a day, for six or even seven days a week – and we rarely have any problems.”
Platos Tradicionales benefit from a close partnership with a single company whose products and expertise can cater to all their needs, says José – including marinating, cooking, packaging and cooling. José also shares the news that his team is building a new line, working with GEA once again to produce exciting new products. “They really speak our language,” he says. “They’re open to our ideas and our needs, and offer us the complete package.”
“GEA is always willing to fulfill our expectations, even when we have special requests. They have so much experience, there’s always an expert ready to talk to us.”
25 years of innovation with GEA CookStar
With the introduction of the world’s first 2-zone spiral oven in 1992, GEA CookStar started to set new standards for industrial cooking. Evolving over time to the world’s only three-phase cooking concept in a double spiral oven, it is still a leader in terms of innovation, performance and reliability. Already for 25 years and counting…
