Founded in April 1981, Mebrafe is located in Caxias do Sul, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the second most important metal mechanic hub in Brazil. It started its activities in an 800 m² pavilion, with 12 employees. Due to the circumstances that arose at the time, Mebrafe started working on supplying cooling equipment to the soft drink industries in Brazil and Latin America. It only happened because of one of the partner's great knowledge in this field.
During the 1980s, with the experience acquired in Argentina by one of the partners in the fruit refrigeration and conservation market, Mebrafe started to explore the apple market in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, where the number of companies dedicated to the cultivation and marketing of apples expanded widely. Mabrafe achieved a large participation in this market and began to be recognized in the 90s. It expanded its activities to the meat and juice sectors, ice factories and other markets that needed refrigeration. Always exploring foreign markets, their bigger emphasis has been in the South American countries.
Currently, Mebrafe has two manufacturing facilities, one with 13,000 m² of total area, and 6,000 m² of built area and another unit with 4,500 m² of built area and 11,000 m² of total área. Both units are located in Caxias do Sul - RS, employing 170 direct employees and 40 outsourced workers who work exclusively for Mebrafe.
Matriz
Filial
1981 to 1989: Mebrafe stood out in the beverage market and began an upward path in the apple market. At the end of this decade it was consolidated in these two segments, also exporting turnkey equipment and facilities to countries such as Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.
1990 to 1999: It started to sell equipment and installations for the Meat, Fish & Seafood and Ice industries. During that time, it faced strong competition with large companies. Mebrafe gradually adapted and managed to enter these markets. During the same period, the manufacturing of galvanized steel evaporators was improved and Mebrafe began to export to Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia.
2000 to 2009: : During this decade, the company envisioned that it could be a strong competitor in the refrigeration market and started investing in technology and marketing.
In 2006, it started manufacturing the evaporator line with stainless steel / aluminum coils and aluminum / aluminum coils. Meanwhile, all equipment underwent a design study and were remodeled and adapted, in line with market requirements.
Mebrafe added companies from the meat industry to its major clients portfolio. It started supplying equipment to Central American countries, mostly to Cuba, where important deals were made, and also started supplying equipment to Paraguay at this time.
2010 to date: The company`s expansion and growth period. As a consequence, it has gotten many new customers, counting on the help and dedication of all employees, always seeking excellence and constant learning.
Investing heavily in new machinery and tools, it has led to improvements in product quality standards and agility in its production line.
Highlighted launches with great acceptance in the market:
In 2012, the first RETMACs (Mebrafe's tubular coolers for chiller water) were installed for the poultry industries.
In 2014, the company installed the first Mebrafe Continuous Freezing Tunnel - TCM, a package-freezer type tunnel with a series of advantages over the tunnels found in the market. The new solution was widely accepted in the poultry industry, beef slaughterhouses and swine slaughtering plants in Brazil and South America.
In 2018, the first Mebrafe Helical Tunnel - THM was installed, a 'spiral freezer' type of equipment with a unique technology in South America. This equipment does not have a rotating drum for dragging the belt. THM uses positive traction directly on the conveyor.
During 2019, the first double-track THM tunnels were installed. This spiral freezer has the same working principle as the one-track tunnel, with positive traction. Its differential is that it works with two tracks that can rotate at different and adjustable speeds in different and independent ways. This allows freezing two products that request different freezing times simultaneous, providing time and energy saving.
In 2020 we started a partnership in the production and selling of ice machines and peripherals, with the Chinese company 'Snowman'.
In the same period, we also incorporated the following into our production line:
• A swaging machine for directly beading the fan collar into the evaporator casings;
• A new high production punching machine;
• An automatic line for tube processing in rolls to manufacture evaporators;
• An automatic machine for curves production for evaporators;
• A new automatic machine for submerged arc welding, allowing to weld tanks with a diameter up to 2,500 mm;
• A complete automated manufacturing line for stainless steel condenser coils;
• A new laser cutting machine, which will start operating in January 2021.
In this decade, Mebrafe has opened new markets abroad, serving customers in countries such as Egypt, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Thailand and Vietnam.
High equipment reliability achieved due to the materials used, projects dedicated to each equipment and great development engineering service, as well as products in constant feedback, having their own application engineering (to work on site) and customers looking for constant equipment improvement.
High equipment reliability achieved due to the materials used, projects dedicated to each equipment and great development engineering service, as well as products in constant feedback, having their own application engineering (to work on site) and customers looking for constant equipment improvement.
It produces high performance equipment with high efficiency and low energy consumption.
It has a commercial technical department to understand, present and offer the best solution for each customer as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The largest product and solutions line in the Latin American industrial refrigeration market
Mebrafe uses materials and manufacturing techniques that do not harm the environment, presenting, for example, solutions that reduce the use of hot dip galvanizing in certain equipment, replacing the process with techniques and materials with higher energy efficiency, reduced weight and less aggressive to the environment. The company works with the recycling of materials and equipment manufacturing waste.
In addition, it constantly seeks to improve its production process, aiming to generate the least waste of manufacturing materials and to increasingly employ the use of high-performance motors, with reduced consumption of electrical energy level and resulting noise.