The Early Days: Exhaust Gas Analyzers

When Bridge Analyzers first began to design and manufacture exhaust gas analyzers in 1993 for forklift and automotive emissions testing and performance tuning purposes, we thought we were starting a company that would be identified by our exclusive focus on engines, particularly engine performance, emissions testing, and exhaust gas analysis.

And we were thrilled with that.

We love combustion chemistry, air-fuel ratios, lambda calculations, and the Brettschneider equation.

From Exhaust Gas Analyzers to Modified Atmosphere Packaging for Bananas

But everything changed in 1998 when Chiquita, one of the world’s biggest banana producers, contacted us and asked if we would design a gas analyzer for them that they could use to measure CO2 and O2 in the shipping containers in which they transported their bananas.

Shortly after Chiquita approached us with this new challenge, we got down to creating our first ever Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) analyzer. It was not easy, but in a few months we had the design for an attractive and fully functional CO2/O2 MAP gas analyzer that not only met but exceeded Chiquita’s specifications.

Fast forward 22 years later and Chiquita is still one of our valued customers who actively uses over twenty of our Bridge Analyzers CO2/O2 MAP gas analyzers every day on shipping containers moving bananas between Panama, Florida, Mississippi, and California.

From Bananas to Fresh Cut Produce and Meat

But not so fast. Let’s go back a bit. After Chiquita, we began to sell a lot of CO2/O2 gas analyzers to fresh cut produce providers like Taylor Farms, Ready Pac, and Dole. And while we were happy with the growth we were achieving in this new market space we knew there were still untapped industries that could use our expertise in gas analysis.

A few years after we developed the CO2/O2 MAP Gas Analyzer for Chiquita, and the produce industry in general, we began to create a whole line of gas analyzers that could be used across various applications and for various food products in the food packaging industry. In the early two thousands Low-Oxygen modified atmosphere packaging was gaining credence and support across the food packaging industry as the best way to preserve the quality of meat products through the cold chain. While the market was growing more and more interested in Low-Ox MAP we were busy developing an MAP analyzer designed for this new application. While we were aware of the market dynamics taking place in the meat industry, we were also fortunate that the timing of our development of the MAP Tri-Gas Analyzer coincided so closely with the desire of the meat packaging industry for an analyzer that could measure residual O2, CO2, and CO in meat packaging applications.

Enter the Tri-Gas Analyzer for Case-Ready Meat

One of the biggest game changers for Bridge Analyzers came when we began to sell our first MAP Tri-Gas Analyzers, specifically designed for Low-Ox meat applications, to the biggest meat packagers and producers in the world, such as: Cargill, Tyson, and JBS. To say that entering the meat packaging market at such an early stage of its development was a game changer for us is an understatement. As time has gone on our meat packaging customers have become the largest part of our business. A welcome result of this growth is that we have been able to interact with our meat packaging customers on a very granular level and have gained industry and technical insight that has helped us become subject matter experts when it comes to modified atmosphere packaging gas analysis for meat packagers and producers.

As we have continued to grow and support our long standing meat packaging customers we have become the preferred supplier of MAP gas analyzers to two of the top three meat packaging companies in the world: Cargill and Tyson. We also supply JBS, Smithfield, National Beef Packaging, and various other meat packaging companies with MAP Tri-Gas analyzers as well.

So in a little less than twenty-five years of business we have gone from being an exclusive manufacturer of exhaust gas analyzers (EGAs) to a manufacturer of modified atmosphere packaging gas analyzers for produce companies, meat packagers, snack food companies, coffee companies, and more, while still making some of the best exhaust gas analyzers on the market.

From forklifts and motorcycles to banana boats and meat packaging facilities, and back again, Bridge Analyzers is always taking on new challenges and coming up with valuable solutions that help our customers grow and deliver high quality products to their customers. How can we help you today? Let us know at sales@bridgeanalyzers.com