Bentley Products: The ‘Auto Clave’ pioneer

By Marianne David

Having successfully converted food waste into food for farm animals, it was SriLankan Catering’s pioneering project to become the first airline caterer to use an ‘Auto Clave’ food sterilisation machine for this purpose that won it two Mercury Awards.

The company behind the design and production of the Auto Clave is none other than trusted supplier of hotel equipment, Bentley Products.

Sri Lanka’s leading supplier of food service equipment, holding a 70% market share, Bentley Products supplies electric hotel and catering equipment, kitchen fabrications and food display equipment to the service industry.

Bentley Products supplies hotel equipment to five star and small hotels and according to Director – Business Development Chrishantha Victor, it has met the requirements of many five star hotels such as Cinnamon Grand, Cinnamon Lakeside, Galle Face Hotel, Ceylon Continental and other top hotels.

“They have trusted us due to our superior after sales service, as well as the company’s existence in the market for over 40 years. We use only European and British components and our staff is highly trained. Our clients trust our reputed name for quality and our superior after sales service, which is why top hotels have trusted us with their requirements,” asserted Victor.

Bentley Products designed and produced the Auto Clave for SriLankan Catering, with SriLankan Airlines being the first international airline to use such equipment to sterilise waste food and use it as animal food, which has resulted in vast savings in both money and energy.

In the case of SriLankan Catering, the Auto Clave, which was installed at an investment of just Rs. 3.5 million, destroys possible contaminants in the more than one tonne of food waste from the used food trays of passengers, a process which saves the company over Rs. 12 million annually on incineration costs.

A total of 1.2 metric tonnes of food waste is generated per day and as per quarantine regulations, the company was not permitted to dispatch its garbage. Instead, it had to incinerate it, which cost over Rs. 1 million a month and resulted in harmful emissions.

Looking into methods to avoid this, SriLankan Catering had been told that if the food was steamed to 121 degrees, it would be suitable for human consumption. It was then that the company installed the Auto Clave, employed six people and started total recycling.

The Auto Clave saves the company 175,200 litres of diesel and 45,990 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. It conforms to all international and local regulations on preventing contamination by destroying all fungi, bacteria, virus, and spores by heating the food waste for 30 minutes at 121 degrees centigrade. The animal feed is purchased by an environmental model farm in nearby Wennappuwa.

Pointing out that there are several Auto Claves in commercial, large-scale operation in Sri Lanka, Victor said: “The Autoclave is our own design and the response has been very good.”

The range of products at Bentley Products includes state-of-the-art hot and cold display showcases, under counter chillers, freezers, bain-marie units, refrigerated salad counters and kitchen equipment, amongst others, and are used in many star class hotels and cafeterias in Sri Lanka and overseas.

Bentley Products provides key solutions to the food service industry by designing and supplying tailor made guaranteed products with prompt after sales service – the secret of its success.

“We have built a strong customer confidence and offer a genuine warranty as the main components in our products are British/European made and conform to international standards in the food service industry,” asserted Victor.

Bentley Products’ factory is well-equipped with state-of-the-art machinery and a team of well-trained, experienced engineers and technicians guided by foreign qualified consultants in the fields of engineering, food technology and microbiology.