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PLANTBENCH

PlantBench / Blancher ROI calculator

Blancher ROI calculator

Blanchers are a process-control purchase as much as a labor purchase. The return is usually small on people and sensitive to steam and to how much product you currently cook away.

What the yield point is allowed to mean

The default is one point. That stands in for less overcook loss, less fines, and fewer rework totes. It does not mean blanching adds weight. If you are replacing a kettle that already hits the spec, use something closer to zero and let labor and steam decide.

If you are replacing an uncontrolled dunk tank, a point or two can be honest. If you cannot point at a loss you measure today, do not type one.

Steam often goes up

Hot-water and steam blanchers both show up here as therms. The default moves from 3 to 7 therms per 1,000 pounds because a blancher run to spec often uses more fuel than a casual tank, not less.

If the project is heat recovery replacing a once-through tank, flip it. Put today’s fuel higher than the new machine and the energy line becomes a savings.

Labor and the things you cannot type

Loading a tank is the labor. A blancher rarely removes a whole shift. If the labor story is larger than about 15%, ask who actually leaves the floor.

Enzyme kill, color, and how the product behaves in an IQF downstream are why blanchers get bought. This sheet will not score those. If they stop a downgrade you can price, raise product value. Do not inflate yield to fake a quality argument.

Do not double-count the freezer

Plants that blanch before IQF should run this page and the freezer page separately. The same recovered pounds do not get to live on both sheets. Capital here does not include a boiler unless you type the boiler in.

Run the numbers

Your plant

These stay put when you switch equipment. Seasonal lines often run 30–40 weeks; year-round plants run closer to 50. Edit to match your calendar.

Choose a state to fill industrial averages for power, gas, and a production wage. Every figure stays editable.

lb

Annual throughput 4,800,000 lb. Operating days 240.

$/hr
%

Loaded wage $25.74 per hour.

$/lb

Price of the recovered pounds, not a premium and a yield gain for the same upgrade.

$/kWh

Typical industrial rate. Replace it with your local rate.

$/therm

Rough assumptions

Blancher

A specified blancher often uses more steam than a casual tank. Labor savings stay small.

Whole crew on this step. Four people for 8 hours is 32.

%
%

Percent of input weight lost at this step today.

pts

Points of input weight you expect to sell instead of lose.

kWh

kWh per 1,000 lb of throughput.

kWh

38,400 kWh/year, about $3,264 .

therms

Therms per 1,000 lb. Use 0 if this step has no gas.

therms

33,600 therms/year, about $31,920 .

$

Optional. Leave blank to hide payback. Fold installation into this number if you want it counted.

Annual result

$29,175

Total annual savings, before capital.

Payback
4.8 years
Simple ROI
21%
5-year net
$5,877
Largest term
Yield
Annual savings breakdown
Labor saved864 hours$22,239
Yield gain48,000 lb$26,400
Energy deltaExtra operating cost-$19,464
  • Energy is a net new cost on these assumptions, so it reduces annual savings.

Sensitivity

Payback and five-year net at half, full, and one-and-a-half times the labor reduction and yield improvement
MeasureConservativeBaseAggressive
Payback28.8 years4.8 years2.6 years
5-year net-$115,722$5,877$127,475

Sensitivity only — edit the main inputs for a full recalculation.

These figures are rough estimates for discussion, not a quote, bid, or engineering study. Defaults are industry-style assumptions and will not match your plant until you edit them. The model ignores maintenance, installation, freight, water, wastewater, depreciation, taxes, incentives, and the time value of money. Yield math treats improvement as extra saleable pounds of input weight, which is the wrong model for some drying and grading decisions. Confirm every assumption before a capex meeting.

Annual savings

$29,175

Details

Questions

Water blancher or steam blancher?

Use the therms fields for the fuel either way. Water and wastewater are not priced. Steam efficiency is entirely in the therms you type.

Is one point conservative?

For a plant that already measures cook loss, use your number. One point is only a starting cell so the field is not blank.

We need the blancher for a customer spec, not for ROI.

Then say that in the meeting. A compliance purchase can have a bad payback and still be the right buy. The sheet is there so the cost is visible.

Does payback include a boiler?

Only if you added the boiler to the capital field. The default is a mid-size blancher, not a steam plant.

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