Tetra Pak declares the development of 14 new Best Practice Lines (BPLs) for cheese manufacturers, the most recent of which is specifically customized for Cottage cheese. The other cheeses that will gain benefits from these BPLs are Mozzarella, Semi-hard cheese, Cheddar, and Fresh cheese production. Together, these cheese types comprise 79% of all cheese volumes and have a CAGR forecast of 3% (2021-2025). Mozzarella and Cheddar are the two newer lines which were recently previewed at the Global CheeseExpo (6-8 April).
Leveraging more than 50 years of experience in the cheese category, the biggest dairy food segment in the world at 42% share (and more than 27Billion Kg), the new BPL concepts offer a complete production solution for customers, optimized to fit their requirements. The processing lines utilize proven equipment in combination with industry-leading proficiency to create a safe and simple approach to profitable cheese production with a higher yield, while incorporating the traditional cheese making techniques. The hygienic production process allows the products to have a longer shelf life, consistency and replicable quality. Sustainability is also a key factor, with solutions aimed towards cutting down water, steam, and power consumption.
Fred Griemsmann, Vice President of Cheese & Powder Systems at Tetra Pak states- “Cheese is consumed on every continent around the globe, and consumer appeal shows no signs of abating. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. We’ve expanded and deepened our expertise and knowledge over the last decade, consolidated our proficiency and sites in the US, and recently invested €25M to create a world-class cheese production center in Poland. With 50 years of expertise, we are the only supplier for complete solutions from milk intake, cheese production, through to packaging. This provides us with a sophisticated toolkit that enables us to tailor solutions to be completely suited to the customers’ needs, and we are so confident in these new Best Practice Line solutions that they come with performance guarantees.”
The most preferred cheese is yellow cheese, which accounts for a 34% share of the global cheese volume, and includes both hard and semi-hard cheese variants. The Tetra Pak® draining belt portfolio ensures continuous production of fused and stirred Cheddar and Pasta Filata cheese types. These enclosed belt systems are developed to automatically drain, acidify and texture, mill, salt and mellow cheese curd, similar to the customary cheese method. Fines from whey are captured by a fines saver screen integrated in the belt machine multiplying yield. This design permits consistent curd production leading to uniform acidity, moisture, salt concentration and loading rate.
The second most loved cheese category is Mozzarella. With an aim on yield improvement, product quality, and decreased environmental impact for the production of Mozzarella, the Tetra Pak® Cooker Stretcher DDA dry cooker utilizes a (patented) heated auger and dimpled heated jacket technology to heat the product indirectly resulting in higher fat retention in the ultimate product. Employing 9 independent heating zones with integrated ingredient addition capabilities, it provides producers an unprecedented control of the cooking process.
Tetra Pak and its draining and forming systems set the standard in the cheese industry. The Tetra Pak Blockformer system – where curd is compacted in a series of vacuum and pressure relief cycles – recruits an advanced design allowing it to run Parmesan cheese as well as Cheddar cheese. In the meantime, Tetra Pak® Casomatic systems efficaciously drain and allow formation of semi-hard cheese as well as assist in high-quality whey production. These reliable systems augment yield with a highly controlled process that eradicates weight and moisture variations in the final cheese product. The hygienic design permits long production runs and short cleaning cycles to optimize uptime.
COVID-19 has shifted consumer behaviours in several ways and cheese is no exception, with a third (36%) of consumers accepting they have significantly increased their cheese intake throughout the global pandemic. This can be attributed to the fact that we are spending more time at home. This provides us with extra opportunities to eat cheese like when watching TV (36%), with a drink (35%) or as a quick lunch (35%).
People are much adapted to the wellbeing benefits of cheese, admitting that it is healthy (56%), nutritious (51%) and rich in protein (42%) and calcium (41%).
It is obvious that there is real demand from consumers to know the origins of their food, with an overwhelming majority (77%) showing an interest in the process of cheese production, specifically the ingredients used and their source (72%), where the product is manufactured (52%), the heat treatments involved (41%) and the sterile production (37%). More than a third (36%) also place particular emphasis on environmentally friendly packaging.
Fred Griemsmann further added- “Cheese has been an essential part of our diet for centuries and it is set to remain so for many years to come. People are becoming more adventurous in terms of taste and texture, and we have the facility to accommodate this, ensuring that there is no compromise on the overall quality of the end result.”
