Gowardhan
Setting new standards
Nestled in the lush green of a village in Manchar near Pune, the Bhagyalaxmi dairy farm of Parag Milk Foods Pvt Ltd has many firsts to its credit. As Asia’s largest cheese unit, it is one of the first dairies to install a rotary milk parlour and a state-of-the-art mechanized milk processing unit. This single farm provides livelihood to over one lakh milk farmers who contribute to the 800,000 litres of milk processed at the unit every day.
“Every activity at the farm is driven with precision, care and concern for our cows in forming International standards. Our growth in such a short span is because of our best practices, innovation, expertise, ethics, honesty, sustainability and our strong base for being a pure player of cow’s milk,” says Devendra Shah, Chairman.
Parag Milk Foods has strategically integrated sustainable practices to encompass the entire value chain. At the Bhagyalaxmi farm, it has tried to create a role model of a meticulously planned environment and installed systems to enhance both the quality and quantity of milk production and products. With the systems in place for production and cleaning there is least human intervention; thereby avoiding chances of contamination at any level of the production process.
The cheese unit is equipped with state-of-the-art sophisticated machines of UK-based Tetra Pak, which are programmed with CIP systems. Around 50 workers are engaged in the production process. The cleanliness and hygiene at this unit begins right from the moment the worker enters the premises. They are trained in maintaining personal hygiene. At the changing room the workers wash and get into their work suit – white coat and disposable face mask & cap – before entering the production area. These white suits are washed every day at an approved laundry. The linen goes through the specified wash cycle and sanitizing processes in line with the requirement of a food industry.
Anyone entering the workshop has to go through a footbath and hand sanitization to get entry across the automated scroll barrier system.
This cleaning and sanitizing machine of EDT, Germany, is a foolproof system. “Unless the shoes are clean and hands sufficiently sanitized, the machine will not give way for entry,” explains Sanjay Mishra, GM-Works. EDT does not have India operations and is looking at expanding into India. Easy to maintain, the foot bath machine is fed with Diversey’s sanitizing solution periodically.
At the processing plant, after every batch there is a cleaning process. “Out of the 24 hours of the plant operation, four hours is kept for cleaning,” says Sanjay Mishra. The entire production operations and cleaning is fully computerised.
“There are about three to four tanks in the CIP system. The first tank has the rinse water which is used for the initial washing of the machine. The second is the hot water tank which is used for sterilisation and also for intermediate washing during the CIP process. Then we have the caustic solution tank and the nitric acid solution tank. As a regular practice, we run the caustic-hot water CIP and in case of scale removal we go for caustic-acid-hot water,” explains Mishra. The type of CIP required after a batch is decided by the officers who are involved in the production process. They visually observe through the manhole if there is scale formation and decide on the need to run the caustic-acid-hot water combination. At least once or twice a month, the acid combination of CIP is used. At the end of the process, a sample test of the pH levels in the last rinse is taken.
In the sanitizing process, after the CIP, the system is sanitized with hot water at 85 degrees temperature for 10 minutes. This ensures there is no microbial contamination. All the vats are swap tested before every batch.
Experts from Tetra Pak-UK had come from Sweden to commission each and every aspect of the plant, including the CIP. “A batch from the unit was trained initially by Tetra Pak on the CIP systems. All systems installed are CIP enabled,” says Mishra.
At the cheese processing end, apart from the CIP systems, right from the walls to the floor are customised to ensure least contamination. “One important factor in any cheese processing unit is the floor. It is all epoxy in Parag, so that nothing can stick to it. The walls are thermal insulated puffed panels which ensure that there are no crevices and there is no scope of anything sticking on to it. In India, one would rarely find such a kind of wall being put up, especially in the food processing industry. The inner wall is GI coated and the puffed panels ensure that the temperatures are maintained. Even the edges of the walls are curved so that there is no chance of anything sticking to it. In a brick wall there are chances of contamination.
“In the cheese shredding area, we have installed two air purification machines that are based on NASA technology. It makes the air bacteria free. A Mumbai based company has provided this equipment which are also being used in hospitals. Being a totally hygienic and bacteria free production area, the cheese spillage is taken up for re-processing.”
Bhagyalaxmi Cow Farm
More than 3000 cows and 800 new claves inhabit this farm. What is amiss in this place is the typically strong stench of cow dung, flies, sludge… A light music in the background, a constant light spray of water above rows of cows, no fodder littered, no cow dung on the pathway… in short, it gives a welcome ambience for everyone walking in, including the cows.
That’s exactly what Edmund Vincent-Piper, the Farm Manager at Bhagyalaxmi Dairy has been working at. “From the time the calf hits the floor to the time it starts milking, it gets all the attention,” says Edmund. The milking cows, pregnant cows and new calves have all got their designated areas which receive specific attention. To ensure comfort to the cows and maintain hygiene, the place is completely disinfected. “The cows are disinfected with an indigenously prepared mild solution, one which does not harm the skin of the cows and keeps the bugs away. The cow sheds are kept clean with periodic cleaning. The manure/dung is cleared thrice a day and deposited at the collection pit,” says Edmund. Besides flies and bugs, regular fogging keeps the flies away. “Fogging in the mornings and evenings helps keep flies under control.”
