"You can't look at the food industry without thinking about food safety and you can't think about food safety without thinking about handwashing and how you're addressing biological risk." Stephen Posey, Executive Vice President of Safety and Quality Assurance, Pecan Deluxe.

This case study follows Pecan Deluxe, a family-owned US manufacturer of confectionery ingredients, and its long-standing use of Meritech CleanTech® automated handwashing equipment. From its original CleanTech 400 stations to the latest CleanTech EVO Three, the company’s investment shows how hygiene systems can be upgraded to accommodate workforce growth, improve throughput and provide greater visibility of handwashing compliance.

Pecan Deluxe in the US is and always has been a family-owned business. The founder’s pioneering spirit continues to guide the company’s ongoing success. Pecan Deluxe started as an ice cream shop but decided in 1960 to branch out and began selling their innovative ingredients to other food companies. Now Pecan Deluxe is a massive player in the inclusions, candy and confections industry.

Though their business has changed quite a lot over the years they have always cared about quality. Pecan Deluxe is the perfect example of a business with a food safety culture. From ownership to production, everyone at Pecan Deluxe cares about hygiene and food safety. Food Safety & Quality Assurance experts work collaboratively to ensure the safety and quality of all Pecan Deluxe products. 

In 2021, Pecan Deluxe had grown significantly since it first partnered with Meritech and needed a handwashing station that could support the increased employee shift size. After 19 years of using the CleanTech 400 handwashing stations, Pecan Deluxe decided to make an upgrade to the higher-throughput CleanTech 4000S station. With three bays for handwashing and integrated Boot Dip pans, this station vastly improved the efficiency of the hygiene zone helping a larger number of employees to get to the production floor quicker.

in 2024, the company upgraded from the 4000S to the latest CleanTech EVO Automated Handwashing Station. The new EVO Three station still provides the clinically-validated 99.9% pathogen removal associated with all Meritech CleanTech equipment, but has several new features to meet Pecan Deluxe’s needs.

To aid in tracking hygiene compliance, the EVO station provides detailed usage statistics by week, day, and time of day, all displayed on its interactive screen. As companies grow, storage space can become limited. The EVO station uses smaller solution cartridges, helping Pecan Deluxe save on essential storage space.

In 2021, Pecan Deluxe won the Food Quality and Safety Award for Large Business. This award was presented to them for their unwavering focus on continuous improvement to employee training programs and building strong food safety plans. In a quote from Food Quality and Safety,“The automated hand- and boot-washing system, along with more training focused on personal sanitation, led to a significant improvement in employees using the system. The current level of compliance based on hand swabs is 98.3%.”

In addition to continuing to see high levels of compliance with the CleanTech stations, Stephen Posey, says: “The easier you make it, the more compliant they are. That’s one of the great things we like about the Meritech units, it's very easy. You walk up, you stand where you are supposed to stand, and it does all the work for you!”

Find out more about the CleanTech series here.