Aveka Nutra Processing Facility Expansion, Waukon, Iowa, US

Aveka Nutra Processing facility was established in 2011. Credit: AVEKA.

The construction of the facility expansion began in November 2019. Credit: AVEKA.

The expansion is expected to be completed in July 2020. Credit: AVEKA.

Aveka is expanding its existing processing facility in Waukon, Iowa, US. The multi-million dollar expansion will include the addition of new equipment and material storage space to the processing facility.

The ground-breaking of the Aveka Nutra Processing (ANP) plant extension was held in November 2019 and its completion is expected in July 2020. The company decided to expand the facility as its existing spray drying capacity is nearly running at maximum capacity.

The facility is involved in the processing of food, beverage, and nutraceutical products. The expansion will add 1,500lb of hourly capacity and increase the drying capacity of the processing plant by 25%. The food-grade liquid processing capabilities of the facility will also be enhanced, upon completion of the expansion.

Aveka Nutra Processing facility location and details

The processing facility is located at Allamakee Street in Waukon. The expansion will include the construction of a 750ft² single-storey liquid processing area. The facility already includes equipment designed to meet custom food and multi-step manufacturing requirements.

The expansion will add warehouse space of 6,000ft² and a 1,050ft² area featuring a multi-level dryer tower section, which will measure 75ft high. The expansion will also include the installation of a used Dahmes Stainless Inc (DSI) spray dryer and two new 25,000 liquid storage silos.

The project will allow Aveka to cater to the rising demand for services such as drying, classifying, blending and speciality milling. The processing facility already has two tower dryers and the addition of the third will improve its capabilities.

Project benefits

The expansion will increase the range of food-grade products and help the company in increasing its customer base. The company will hire six new employees to support the operations at the expanded plant. New additions to the team at ANP will include spray dryer operators and other staff to handle the increased production activities.

DSI received a contract to supervise the construction of the facility expansion and the installation of the spray dyer.

Aveka’s product portfolio

The company offers services such as toll processing and contract manufacturing.

The particle processing services include milling, blending, drying, melt spraying, drying, particle coating, characterisation services and equipment sales.

The drying services portfolio includes fluid bed drying, drum drying, tray drying and spray drying, while cryo milling, jet milling, bead milling, and ball milling make up the milling services.

The company provides blending services such as liquid blending and dry blending, while its classifying services include vibratory screening, ultrasonic screening and air classification.

Marketing commentary on Aveka

Aveka was founded by Willie Hendrickson in 1994 in Woodbury, Minnesota. The company was assigned its first patent in 1998.

Aveka Nutra Processing (ANP), part of Aveka Group, was founded in 2011 in Waukon. It is involved in toll manufacturing, custom particle processing and research and development.

The company holds HAACP, FSSC 22000, ISO 9001:2015, OU Kosher and other certifications. Operating for more than 25 years, the firm provides research and development and toll manufacturing services to industries such as personal care, microelectronic, agricultural and automotive markets.

It also serves industries such as animal feed and pet care, additive manufacturing, industry materials, personal and beauty care and petrochemicals and speciality chemicals.

The company is a founding partner in Vision Pharma, which was formed in 2003. In 2011, Aveka Nutra Processing partnered with Z Trim Holdings to provide manufacturing services. The company began producing products for Z Trim Holdings in November 2012 under the agreement.