‘The big money is in cream’ says Arla Foods as it installs Tetra Pak Standardization Unit

01-Dec-2016 - Last updated on 05-Dec-2016 at 12:05 GMT

Arla Foods produces Cravendale Milk. Picture credit: Arla Foods.

Tetra Pak has launched a next generation standardization unit, designed for automatic in-line standardization of the fat in milk and cream directly after milk separation for milk products.

Available worldwide, the unit can handling products such as white milk, cheese milk, milk powder, fortified milk and flavored milk at a capacity of up to 75,000 liters per hour.

Less cream giveaway

The standardization unit has already been installed by Arla Foods at its dairy plant in Palmers Green, London.

Helen Sellar, product manager, dairy & beverage systems, Tetra Pak, told DairyReporter the unit enables manufacturers to reduce the variation of so-called “cream giveaway” from the previous +/- 0.020% to +/- 0.015%.

“It means the new standardization unit has a more accurate milk fat precision than other standardizers currently on the market, which gives less cream giveaway and saves manufacturers money,” she said.

“We measure density and temperature with accuracy and control that allow very small safety margins between controlling set point and requested production.

"The mathematical software algorithms result in superior accuracy that is reliable and precise, leveraging over 40 years of knowledge and expertise since the first standardization unit was launched in 1978.”

Sellar added its previous version is six years old, launched in 2000.

Arla Foods installed the Tetra Pak standardization unit in October 2015 because it wanted to minimize downtime to three days and replace three obsolete standardizers, to make the process more reliable, stable and accurate.

Fat in the milk is crucial

”For example, when they run a milk recipe with milk fat set point of 3.0% the standardization unit delivers a fat content of 3.0% +/- 0.015 % - this higher accuracy means a lot of cream is coming back into the tank,” she said.

“Stability was also important as the machine runs at least eight hours a day, seven days a week, all year round – especially when it comes to short runs, as these are often more difficult to standardize.”

Christian Odgaard, regional project manager, Arla Foods, said the dairy industry is highly competitive and efficient standardization of fat in the milk is crucial.

“For us, the big money is in cream. To give cream away is an absolute no-no. We were quickly impressed with the reliability and precision of the Tetra Pak standardization unit since its installation last October,” he said.

“The difference in higher accuracy is obvious, a lot of cream is coming back into our tank.”

Talking about the industry at large, Sellar said because the dairy market is so competitive, it tries to maximize the customer’s profit from raw milk.

“Each player in the milk producing chain has small margins,” she added.

“We innovate and launch 20-30 products per year, thinking smarter, safer and more cost effective, so that our customers can trim costs, enhance recipes and boost sales.

”Earlier this year we also launched the world’s highest capacity homogenizer, producing up to 63,600 liters per hour, with the lowest operational cost – using 80% less cooling water and 70% less steam compared to alternative machines.”