Product Yield Is the bottom line By Brandon Lairmore Director of Operations, Protein Conversion, Pilgrim’s Pride, Inc. I n every industry, there are ongoing questions that never seem to have a concrete answer. In the rendering industry, one of those questions surrounds product yield. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I don’t know much about critters with four legs or gills, but in the land of wing and feather yields, finding its true value is a continuous battle. Renderers are constantly on the hunt for the answer, but in a world where genetics, nutrition, and Mother Nature are ever-changing, it can be like chasing a ghost. So, how do renderers understand this ghost and help production team members manage the day-to-day operation to prevent fluctuations in this crazy, albeit, essential number? Let’s start by taking a short look at some of the things that affect yield. Renderers deal with a virtual buffet of unwanted goodies from their raw material suppliers, from whole animals and boneless meat, all the way down to offal and everything in between. That buffet is called product mix and is where the yield conundrum begins. Most every trailer of raw material received has a different mix and there is no way to determine the actual make-up of that material. In fact, one typically has to go back to the live weight of the animal to reconcile volumes. That move is the first of many discrepancies that drive renderers to premature gray hair. This article will focus on a few things that renderers have some control over, like managing excess water, product freshness, and maximizing allowable moisture content in finished protein meals. Obviously, renderers can’t control the amount of excess water that might be loaded into offal trailers and hauled needlessly 10 June 2014 Render www.rendermagazine.com
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