GEA's Cookstar First | Revolutionizing spiral cooking with first-time-right precision

As an intensive energy user, the large-scale production industry needs to be at the very forefront of net-zero activities. GEA NEXUS is a holistic engineering solution designed to optimize energy use while minimize carbon footprint in the food industry.

By integrating food processing and heating/cooling solutions rather than treating them separately, GEA NEXUS can reduce energy consumption and operating costs by up to 30%, reduce CO2 and NOX emissions by up to 100%, reduce water consumption, and pave the way for closed-loop and carbon-free production. One of the key enablers of GEA NEXUS is the intelligent use of GEA heat pump technology.

In vertical packaging, the renowned GEA SmartPacker CX400 will feature an innovative Smart Sealing System, incorporating coated sealing strips with a significantly longer lifespan than traditional ones.

The new recyclable coated aluminum strips can reliably seal at least 500,000 bags without needing replacement. Various use cases have demonstrated even higher numbers—up to 2.6 million bags or more, depending on the application.

This innovation ensures extended durability and lifespan of the sealing strips, even when handling challenging frozen products such as breaded and crumb-coated chicken, fish sticks, and tempura shrimp.

And when your sealing strips eventually need replacing, the process is as simple as "click and go"—no special training or tools required.

To further optimize operational efficiency, the system features a retractable cutting knife that works in combination with GEA’s product-in-seal detection technology, ensuring it only operates when the seal area is clear. This prevents unnecessary wear, keeping the blade sharp for longer. Additionally, by positioning the knives at the back of the machine, the blade lifespan is extended by at least five times.

The result? Less downtime, lower maintenance costs, and a seamless packaging process that keeps your production running efficiently—with more stable, predictable output for better planning.

In addition to PE mono materials, the GEA Smart Sealing System supports all widely used laminates, including recyclable material structures such as BOPE, MDOPE, PP-based films, and even paper laminates.

GEA’s food processing and packaging portfolio is among the most comprehensive on the market, and this will be demonstrated at the show with a slicing, loading and packaging line featuring cutting-edge technological innovations. A key highlight is the debut of the GEA OptiScanner 5000 and GEA OptiSlicer 7000, which together set new standards in precision slicing and efficiency.

The OptiSlicer 7000, available with a mono drive or optional two independent drives, enables high-capacity slicing of two natural products while maintaining individual weight control per lane. When paired with the newly developed GEA Slicing Blade R505, featuring an extended cutting edge, it ensures superior portion quality and accommodates wider products. In interaction with the preceding OptiScanner 5000, GEA’s latest advanced optical scanning solution, the system minimizes product giveaway and maximizes throughput – reducing waste and optimizing raw material utilization in production.

The impact of this efficiency is significant: in a specific application, reducing portion weight by just 2 grams in a 200-gram package could generate annual savings of 400,000 EUR for a two-shift operation. Additionally, all GEA PLC-controlled machines are IoT-ready and seamlessly connected to the GEA Cloud, enabling smart data integration for real-time performance optimization.

As an intensive energy user, the large-scale production industry needs to be at the very forefront of net-zero activities. GEA NEXUS is a holistic engineering solution designed to optimize energy use while minimize carbon footprint in the food industry.

By integrating food processing and heating/cooling solutions rather than treating them separately, GEA NEXUS can reduce energy consumption and operating costs by up to 30%, reduce CO2 and NOX emissions by up to 100%, reduce water consumption, and pave the way for closed-loop and carbon-free production. One of the key enablers of GEA NEXUS is the intelligent use of GEA heat pump technology.

In vertical packaging, the renowned GEA SmartPacker CX400 will feature an innovative Smart Sealing System, incorporating coated sealing strips with a significantly longer lifespan than traditional ones.

The new recyclable coated aluminum strips can reliably seal at least 500,000 bags without needing replacement. Various use cases have demonstrated even higher numbers—up to 2.6 million bags or more, depending on the application.

This innovation ensures extended durability and lifespan of the sealing strips, even when handling challenging frozen products such as breaded and crumb-coated chicken, fish sticks, and tempura shrimp.

And when your sealing strips eventually need replacing, the process is as simple as "click and go"—no special training or tools required.

To further optimize operational efficiency, the system features a retractable cutting knife that works in combination with GEA’s product-in-seal detection technology, ensuring it only operates when the seal area is clear. This prevents unnecessary wear, keeping the blade sharp for longer. Additionally, by positioning the knives at the back of the machine, the blade lifespan is extended by at least five times.

The result? Less downtime, lower maintenance costs, and a seamless packaging process that keeps your production running efficiently—with more stable, predictable output for better planning.

In addition to PE mono materials, the GEA Smart Sealing System supports all widely used laminates, including recyclable material structures such as BOPE, MDOPE, PP-based films, and even paper laminates.

GEA’s food processing and packaging portfolio is among the most comprehensive on the market, and this will be demonstrated at the show with a slicing, loading and packaging line featuring cutting-edge technological innovations. A key highlight is the debut of the GEA OptiScanner 5000 and GEA OptiSlicer 7000, which together set new standards in precision slicing and efficiency.

The OptiSlicer 7000, available with a mono drive or optional two independent drives, enables high-capacity slicing of two natural products while maintaining individual weight control per lane. When paired with the newly developed GEA Slicing Blade R505, featuring an extended cutting edge, it ensures superior portion quality and accommodates wider products. In interaction with the preceding OptiScanner 5000, GEA’s latest advanced optical scanning solution, the system minimizes product giveaway and maximizes throughput – reducing waste and optimizing raw material utilization in production.

The impact of this efficiency is significant: in a specific application, reducing portion weight by just 2 grams in a 200-gram package could generate annual savings of 400,000 EUR for a two-shift operation. Additionally, all GEA PLC-controlled machines are IoT-ready and seamlessly connected to the GEA Cloud, enabling smart data integration for real-time performance optimization.