Why a major food and beverage conglomerate in Peru chose HunterLab Aeros to modernize snack food color control and future-proof their QA workflows
When a major American multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate found out their aging D25NC color measurement instruments were discontinued, their Peru-based team faced a critical quality challenge. These instruments had long been trusted to measure the color of cookies, crackers, and other shelf-stable snack products. Losing them could mean inconsistent product quality, disrupted QA workflows, and noncompliance with evolving corporate standards like Six Sigma and MSA.
But replacing these legacy systems wasn’t just about swapping hardware. The replacement needed to:
- Deliver better accuracy for uneven snack surfaces
- Maintain compliance with internal corporate specifications and indices like Six Sigma and MSA
- Be backed by long-term service and support
- Ensure easy adoption by existing QA teams
They needed a future-ready solution that did not just meet the old standard—it needed to exceed it.
The Business Problem: Rising QA Demands, Discontinued Tools
The challenge in Peru was not unique. Across global operations, food manufacturers face mounting pressure to:
- Maintain consistent color across batches and geographies
- Satisfy increasingly stringent quality standards
- Reduce scrap and rework through accurate, objective data
- Modernize aging equipment without disrupting production
For the Peruvian operations of this global food conglomerate, the discontinued D25NC devices left a quality control gap. Manual workarounds or visual inspection were not viable alternatives. A solution had to be found that could adapt to the snack food category’s diverse textures and colors—without contact, grinding, or sample prep.
The Solution: Non-Contact, High-Performance Color Measurement with Aeros
The customer turned to HunterLab, a long-standing quality assurance partner known for food industry expertise. After an in-depth review of operational needs, HunterLab recommended transitioning to Aeros, the world's only smart non-contact spectrophotometer with a rotating, large-area measurement platform..
Why Aeros Was the Right Fit:
- Non-Contact, Minimal Prep Measurements:
Perfect for fragile and irregular snack foods like cookies, crackers amongst others—no grinding or flattening required. - Rotational Averaging for Irregular Samples:
With the industry’s largest rotating platform, Aeros measures up to 27.5 square inches in one rotation, capturing color more consistently than static point measurements. - Faster, More Repeatable QA:
With up to 35 readings per rotation in as little as 5 seconds, the system enabled quicker go/no-go decisions. - Supports Six Sigma and MSA Requirements:
Repeatability and statistical robustness made Aeros a strong match for the customer's corporate quality mandates. - Hybrid Support Model:
Recognizing their existing investment in D25NC instruments, HunterLab provided interim service support for legacy devices during the transition phase.
