Stourgarden Case Study: Colour-Coded Utensils & Shadow Boards

Stourgarden

Colour-Coded Equipment &Storage Solutions for a New Factory

With continued growth driving the expansion of their operation, the Stourgarden team were building a new factory to accommodate increasing business demands.

Challenge 1: Colour Coding & Organisation

Stourgarden needed a logical colour coding system, with the right colours assigned to the right areas and applications. The policy needed to be clear and easy to follow.

Challenge 2: Dedicated Cleaning Equipment

Preventing cross-contamination was a key priority, requiring dedicated cleaning equipment for each department. The equipment needed to withstand demanding food production conditions while being clearly colour-coded, so it was immediately obvious which department and application it belonged to.

Stourgarden is an onion specialist based in the Stour Valley, the Rix family began growing onions in 1967. In 1995, the business formalised its operations to store, grade, and pack onions for direct supply to retail customers.

Today, Stourgarden handles over one million packs of onions every week and processes approximately 110,000 tonnes of onions annually, sourced from growers across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Kent.

The Solution – Colour-Coded Equipment & Shadow Boards

Klipspringer conducted site visits throughout the project to gain a clear understanding of Stourgarden’s requirements and recommend the most suitable solutions for each area of the new factory.

With 11 equipment colours available across the Klipspringer range, Stourgarden was able to implement a clear and consistent colour-coding policy.

The selected equipment was stored on customised shadow boards in the corresponding colours. A combination of wall-mounted and freestanding boards was used to suit the requirements of each area, with dedicated shadows for every item of equipment.

This made it easy for operatives to return utensils to their designated location and quickly identify when equipment had been placed in the wrong zone.

The Results – What was the impact?

The new system provided a simple, highly visual way to reinforce segregation procedures, improve operational efficiency and reduce the risk of cross-contamination.

Georgi Georgiev, Hygiene Manager at Stourgarden’s Prep Factory, also highlighted the positive impact the introduction of shadow boards and colour-coded equipment has had on the site’s hygiene cleaning processes:

“The colour-coded equipment and shadow boards have improved the efficiency and quality of the cleaning process by ensuring the different areas of our site are correctly segregated.”

“The colour-coded equipment and shadow boards have improved the efficiency and quality of the cleaning process by ensuring the different areas of our site are correctly segregated.”

Georgi Georgiev, Hygiene Manager at Stourgarden

Partnering with Klipspringer

Georgi reflected on his experience working with Klipspringer: “Partnering with Klipspringer was an excellent experience. The project ran very smoothly, thanks to the team’s quick responses and fast delivery times.

The site visits throughout the project were also extremely valuable, as the Klipspringer team provided practical support and recommended solutions that we may not have otherwise considered.

I would definitely recommend Klipspringer to other sites.”