Best known for its brand ‘Madhusudan’, Creamy Foods is one of the leading dairy players in the country. This new plant is one of the largest of its kind in India. It opens a new market for UHT technology for GEA in the region, the manufacturer says.
Creamy Foods manufactures a wide range of dairy products at its processing unit in Khurja, Uttar Pradesh including plain milk, ghee, paneer, curd, cooking cream, buttermilk and milk powder. GEA has supplied a wide range of dairy processing equipment to the dairy in the past. GEA’s experience with similar standalone UHT plants across Asia Pacific was a key factor in Creamy Foods’ decision to choose GEA, it says.
Around 34% of liquid milk consumption worldwide is UHT with Asia Pacific being one of the top three regions and one where consumption is increasing. Once packed, the product has a shelf life of up to nine months at ambient temperature, making it as practical as it is nutritious, especially where cold chain distribution is difficult to maintain.
The scope of work includes supply of a complete UHT line with a proprietary direct steam infusion technology. The line will have a milk processing capacity of 15,000 litres of milk per hour, making it one of the largest standalone UHT milk processing plants in the Indian dairy sector. The complete system, which consists of an indirect UHT combined with a direct infusion high heating module, will be designed and supplied by the GEA Aseptic Competence Centre in Ahaus, Germany. The aseptic tank, one of the most critical pieces of equipment, will be delivered from the company’s manufacturing facility in Vadodara, Gujarat.
This plant is characterised by its hybrid type. While it can process high quality products with the gentle direct infusion technology, it can also switch to the highly efficient indirect mode for processing of standardised quality products. In addition, indirect heating and cooling through special tubular heat exchangers, designed by GEA for a high heat recovery of about 88% over the entire production run, allows cost savings and is environmentally friendly. It provides a highly effective ratio of volume to heat exchange area to guarantee optimised product quality and high heat recovery with low steam and cooling water consumption.
“We appreciate the innovative and sustainable technologies from GEA and are very satisfied with the performance of dairy processing equipment supplied in the past. For this reason, we are convinced that we have chosen the right partner for our new plant,” remarks Amit Agarwal, managing director at Creamy Foods.
“We are really happy to partner with Creamy Foods once again with our most innovative solution for UHT technology. The dual mode operation makes it a perfect fit for the customer to differentiate their product along with taking care of consumer’ taste preferences. It has the lowest utility consumption, making it more economical and sustainable in the long run,” says Suket Gohil, country managing director, GEA India.
The contract was signed in February 2020 and the plant is under delivery now.
