Working with ‘Natural’ materials
In ice creams which are made out of fresh milk, fresh fruits and have no preservatives and have a shelf life of 10 days, cleaning is an on going process. ‘Natural’, one of the popular brands, supplied only in Mumbai and Pune, is fast expanding. “We consume around 8000 litres of milk every day which is supplied from Vasai, Thane, to the manufacturing unit in Pune,” said Girish Pai, Factory Manager, Kamath Ourtimes Ice-creams Pvt. Ltd, the manufacturers of Natural brand. The treated milk is transported at below 4oC to the factory and stored in 2000 litre-bulk coolers. “Since our products are made of fresh milk, it is not pasteurised.”
Over a telephonic interview from the factory, Girish said that the Naturals unit too had its CIP systems installed for the milk storage tanks, PHE and ice cream making machine. Alfa Laval ‘Basic’ solution and hot water are fed to the CIP systems for cleaning various equipment once every day.
The major areas that need daily cleaning include fruit storage room, cold room, processing area, marketing area and the outside area. Right from the time the fruits are unloaded, which come from approved vendors, they are cleaned thoroughly with Sanosil Biotech Pvt. Ltd’s hydrogen peroxide solution. Once cleaned they need to be stored at different temperatures; for example, papaya needs dry conditions, some others need humid conditions. Every alternate day, the fruit storage area is cleaned up. “We are in consultation with JohnsonDiversey to improve various cleaning standards.”
The other areas are basically cleaned manually using HCL solution. “As of now, we do not have any mechanised cleaning. We are in the process of procuring scrubber-drier from JohnsonDiversey. Though we have an in house team for housekeeping, with expansion, we are looking at outsourcing options. Further, with manpower crunch, mechanised cleaning is the best option,” he said.
“We also follow standard hygiene practices at the premises. JohnsonDiversey hand wash gel is suitably placed at various locations.” A major part of cleaning is pest control and fumigating all the areas using hydrogen peroxide regularly.
