Starting point
From small trial cheeses to realistic production
Novonesis develops, among other things, cultures and rennet for the international dairy industry. Previously, new products could mainly be tested through smaller trials with small cheeses that did not fully reflect customers' industrial production.
Novonesis therefore needed a flexible development cheese plant where new cultures and rennet could be tested on a larger scale and under controlled conditions.
Solution and responsibility
A complete cheese plant on a smaller scale
HSV Combi developed and delivered a complete small-scale cheese plant covering the central process steps from cheese making to pre-pressing, final pressing and cleaning.
The plant makes it possible to produce full-size cheeses of up to 20 kg. This allows Novonesis to assess how new cultures and rennet perform in a process and a product that are much closer to customers' actual production.
Equipment delivered
The delivered solution included, among other things
- Six 200-liter cheese vats
- Development and testing of a prototype cheese vat before series production
- Six pre-presses
- Development and testing of a prototype pre-press
- Two cheese presses with room for several cheese molds
- Tank platform in hygienic, easy-to-clean design
- Process water tank
- Insulated hot water tank
- Controlled heating and cooling
- Cooking vat for cleaning cheese molds
- Process piping and recirculating heating circuits
- Full CIP (cleaning-in-place) of the process equipment
- Complete control system with recipes and controlled process parameters
- Installation, testing and required documentation
Development method
Developed through prototypes and testing
The requirements for the plant were high. Both the cheese vat and the pre-press were therefore first developed as prototypes so that function, cleaning and process could be tested and approved before the remaining equipment was manufactured.
The approach reflects how HSV Combi works: the process and the product are understood first, the solution is developed and tested, and then the complete plant is built.
Customer value
Value for Novonesis
With the plant, Novonesis can test new cultures and rennet on a scale that gives more realistic results and cheeses that compare better with customers' products.
Recipes and controlled process management make it possible to repeat trials and compare results on a consistent basis. At the same time, the automatic CIP cleaning supports a high hygienic standard and efficient changeover between different trials.
The plant thus serves as the link between laboratory development and industrial cheese production.
