THE REPORT OF A FACTORY VISIT TOFONTERRA BRANDS, SRI LANKA

Sachith S. Fernando,

Department of Botany,

University of Kelaniya,

Sri Lanka.

Introduction

In 2001, New Zealand milk Lanka (Pvt) Ltd changed the name as Fonterra Brands.Fonterra is New Zealand’s largest multinational company with revenue exceeding NZD $17Billion. As a cooperative Fonterra is owned by over 11,000 farmers, it is also the 6th largestdairy company in the world. Fonterra was established in October 2001 through a merger ofthe two largest New Zealand dairy cooperatives and the New Zealand Dairy Board. Thepurpose of the merger was to create a single company to manage the supply chain for asignificant proportion of the New Zealand dairy industry. The company has an annualturnover of around US$8 billion. Its core business consists of exporting dairy products underthe NZMP brand (95% of its New Zealand production is exported). It also operates a fast-moving consumer goods business for dairy products, Fonterra Brands. There are around30000 farmers in New Zealand who supply milk to Fonterra. Fonterra has a number ofsubsidiaries and joint-venture companies operating in markets around the world.

In 2005 the company purchased a large factory in Dennington, Victoria, Australiafrom Nestlé, after they moved out of the collection of milk from farmers and the manufactureof powdered milk in Australia. Also in 2005 the company made moves towards purchasingAustralian companies Dairy Farmers and National Foods. It also converted its 50 per centstake in Victorian dairy producer Bonlac to full ownership. At this time $1 billion ofFonterra's revenue was from Australian sales, which was 14 % of the dairy products it sellsaround the world.

In November 2007 after a lengthy capital review the company's board recommendedto farmers that its assets, liabilities and operations be split from the co-operative and listed onthe New Zealand Stock Exchange. Under the plan, which had been rumoured for months, theco-operative would retain two-thirds of the company, 15% would be given to farmers (whichthey could sell or retain), and 20% traded freely. Doug Woolerton, a New Zealand First MP,branded the plan "a disaster for farmers and for our economy as a whole", but othercommentators said it would breathe life into the sector and the New Zealand economy as awhole. The announcement started a two-year review. If the board's plans are adopted,Fonterra is expected to be New Zealand's largest listed company. Fonterra have recentlysuggested that they will move their US headquarters from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania toChicago, Illinois adjacent to the Chicago O'Hare International Airport for close proximity to awide range of international flights, proximity to public transportation, their dairy suppliersand clients (Kraft Foods Inc. and General Mills Inc.) in the Midwest.

In Sri Lanka, the factory is located at Biyagama and all the processes are carried outin that particular factory.

Fonterra is keen in keeping the quality of milk at the best level. The milk products ofFonterra are accredited with;

ISO 9001: 2001

HACAAP

SQF

ISO 22000: 2005

What Fonterra does in Sri Lanka? Fonterra Brands Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. is the major dairy product manufacturer andmarketer in Sri Lanka. In the past it only manufactured milk powder, but today it produces arange of dairy products to the local market, such as yoghurt, liquid milk. Therefore, it has twoplants separately as liquid and powder plants

Products of Fonterra for local marketAnchor full cream milk powder

Raththi full cream milk powder

Anchor 1+ and Anchor 3+

Anlene

Anmum

Anchor non fat

Anchor butter and cheese

Newdale yoghurt

Raththi yoghurt

Anchor yoghurt

Anlene yoghurt

Newdale fresh milk

UHT milk

The factoryAs mentioned earlier, the factory is composed of two plants

1. powder plant2. liquid plant

Powder plant

In the powder plant what the Fonterra does is packing the milk powder brought fromNew Zealand in to consumer packs. The milk powder arrives in 25 kg bulk packets in sealedcontainers. Each container has 1008 bags (25 kg) and there are 56 bags per plate. The bulkpackets have different colors because of the different milk powders.

A 25 kg milk powder bulk packet

Mainly two types of packaging are done in the powder plant.

1. Unblended method

2. Dry blended method

1. Unblended method

Here the imported milk powder is directly packed without the addition of anyadditives.

(i) Anchor full cream milk powder

(ii) Raththi full cream milk powder

(iii) Anchor non fat

2. Dry blended method

At the powder plant, many nutrients and minerals are added to the imported milkpowder to produce a range of different products.

(i) Anchor 1+ and Anchor 3+ - for growing children, flavors are added to increase theappetite

(ii) Anlene - contains high amount of calcium, good against osteoporosis

(iii) Anmum – for pregnant women, contains folic acid

Milk powder processing at Fonterra

There are three major regions of the powder plant

• hygienic area• semi critical hygienic area• critical hygienic area

Milk powder packing process

1. Unloading and storage of milk powder Milk powder bulk packs (25 kg) imported from New Zealand is unloaded from theLorries at the factory and stored in the yard. According to the need they are taken in order topack and release to the market. Each and every pack has;

A factory number - registration numberA unit number - pallet numberA cypher - date of packing

2. Depalatization Here the milk powder taken from each palate is checked for microbiological,chemical, sensory and physical properties.

3. Debagging This is done in debagging room which is a semi critical hygienic area. Here the outercraft paper bag is removed manually without touching the inner content

4. Tipping Tipping means the opening of polythene bag and pouring the milk powder in to thehopper machine. This is done in the tipping room which is also a critical hygienic area.

5. Filling Filling is done in the filling room using Oggur filling system which is a criticalhygienic area. The milk powder is filled into the aluminum foil using the filling machine.While filling, nitrogen gas is also added into the bags to retard oxidation process. The packetsare sealed horizontally and vertically. The average mass of a packet is 400g and the packetshaving different masses are automatically rejected when they are conveyed to the boxingroom.

6. Boxing The sealed packets are then packed into cardboard boxes to be dispatched to themarket. This is done in a semi-automated manner. The small boxes are packed in larger boxes(36 packets in each)

7. Storage The large boxes are stored in the stores and loaded to the Lorries according to themarket requirement.

Details mentioned in the boxes are as shown below:

Liquid plant

The milk collected at the collecting centers are checked for chemical, physical andmicrobiological properties to assure the quality and if ok milk is loaded to the bowsers andbrought to the factory. About 2000 farmers around Sri Lanka supply milk daily to Fonterra.

At the factory, the milk samples are rechecked for bacterial levels and water content.The good quality milk is pumped into large silos and stored below 8 oC.

All the equipment and machines are washed and cleaned regularly. The cleaningprocess is called Cleaning in Place (CIP)

Washed with NaOH

Washed with water

Washed with HNO3

Rewashed with water

Finally washed with hot water

Raw milk processing in the factoryRaw milk

Separating fat – separator machine

Mixing ingredients (dissolved gelatin, chocolate, vanilla)

Homogenization

Filtration

Pasteurization (85 oC, 3 min)

Deaeration

Cold storage (4 oC)

Processing for various products

Filling (into packets, bottles ect.)

Cold storage (4 oC)

Delivery

Cultured products

Yoghurt production There are two types of yoghurts produced by Fonterra.

§ Set yoghurt§ Stirred yoghurt

Set yoghurt production processHeat treated milk + skim milk

Mixing ingredients

Homogenization

Pasteurization (85 oC, 3min)

Cool (43 oC)

Inoculation of starter culture

Filling into cups

Packing in boxes

Incubation (43 oC, 12hrs)

Cold storage (4-7 oC)

Stirred yoghurt production Similar to set yoghurt production, but specific bacteria are added to starter culture andincubated at 42 oC

UHT products

UHT stands for “ultra heat treated”. Here a high temperature is used for a short periodof time. It provides a long shelf life. UHT treatment retains the flavor and nutritional qualityof milk.

The processMixing and formulation (flavors added)

Pasteurization

Aging

Sterilization (1400C, 5s)

Filling into packets

Packets sealed and stored

Anchor butter and cheese

The fonterra imports Anchor butter and cheese from New Zealand and supply to thelocal market.

Ice cream

Fonterra does not produce ice cream in large scale. They produce ice cream accordingto the demand.

E.g. fonterra supplies ice cream for MacDonald’s

Quality control of milk

The Fonterra is very interested in keeping the quality of their products at the bestlevel. In milk quality controlling, approved tests are used to ensure that the products are inaccepted standards. Here the physical, chemical and microbiological properties are mainlyconcerned.

The Fonterra does the quality controlling at all steps of the chain

At the farmThis is done by using proper veterinary practices and by proper handling methods by

farmers.

At collecting centers Here milk is tested for water content, fat content and other chemical andmicrobiological properties.

Within the factory Before accepting the milk for further processing, each bulk of milk from differentcollecting centers is tested specially at the liquid plant. The powder plant also conducts thequality control tests for milk powder. So the two plants have separate labs to carry out thesetests. Also both the plants maintain three types of hygienic areas to ensure maximumprotection from contaminants;

1. hygienic area2. semi critical hygienic area3. critical hygienic area

Tests in powder plant

Sensory test

Taste, color, odor and texture of milk powder are tested by a professionally qualifiedsensory panel. Randomly taken 200 samples are tested from 125 -150 metric tons of milkpowder handled per day.

Physical tests

1. Vacuum tester/leak tester

Here the sealed milk powder packet is dipped in water and the pressure of the vacuumchamber increased. If there is any leak, air bubbles will come out. Five samples are takenrandomly from each line of the conveyor for testing.

2. Moisture tests

Done to maintain the moisture level at 2.5% (SLS standard is 4%)

3. Oxygen level test

Oxygen level is kept at standard level. So prevent degradation.

Chemical tests

Ion, calcium, fat content and SNF tests are done

1. Ion test

This test is mainly done for high ion containing products; Anmum, Anchor1+ andAnchor3+. Milk powder is burnt into ash in high temperature in a muffle burner. Then asolution is prepared and spectrometrically analyzed.

2. Ca test

This test is done specially for the high calcium product Anlene. Here a titration isdone.

Microbiological tests

Coliform test, yeast and mould count and total plate count are done.

Tests in liquid plant

Sensory evaluation

Sensory evaluation is done by a well trained sensory panel.

Physical tests

1. Gerber butterfat test

The fat content of milk and cream is the most important single factor in determining theprice to be paid for milk supplied by farmers in many countries. Also, in order to calculatethe correct amount of feed ration for high yielding dairy cows, it is important to know thebutterfat percentage as well as well as the yield of the milk produced. Further more thebutterfat percentage in the milk of individual animals must be known in many breedingprograms.

Butterfat tests are also done on milk and milk products in order to make accurateadjustments of the butterfat percentage in standardized milk and milk products.

Equipment used in Gerber Butterfat test

Apparatus for DF test:

• Gerber butyrameters, 0-6% or 0-8% BF• Rubber stoppers for butyrometers• 10.94 or 11 ml pipettes for milk• 10 mls pippetes or dispensers for Gerber Acid• 1 mls pippetes or dispensers for Amyl alcohol• stands for butyrometers

Gerber water bath Reagents:

• Gerber sulphuric acid,(1.82 g/cc)• Amyl alcohol

Fresh milk at approximately 20 ºC should be mixed well. Samples kept cool for somedays should be warmed to 40 ºC, mixed gently and cooled to 20 ºC before the testing.

Procedure

Add 10 ml sulphuric acid to the butyrometer followed by 10.94 or 11 ml of wellmixed milk. Avoid wetting of the neck of the butyrometer.

Next add 1 ml of Amyl alcohol, insert stopper and shake the butyrometer carefullyuntil the curd dissolves and no white particles can be seen. Place the butyrometer in the waterbath at 65 ºC and keep it there until a set is ready for centrifuging. The butyrometer must beplaced in the centrifuge with the stem (scale) pointing towards the centre of the centrifuge.

Spin for 5 min. at ll00 rpm.

Remove the butyrometers from the centrifuge.

Put the butyrometers in a water bath maintained at 65 ºC for 3 min. before taking thereading.

The fat column should be read from the lowest point of the meniscus of the interfaceof the acid-fat to the 0-mark of the scale and read the butterfat percentage.

The butyrometers should be emptied into a special container for the very corrosiveliquid of acid-milk, and the butyrometers should be washed in warm water and dried beforethe next use.

The fat layer is separated and analyzed. The value should be 3.5%

2. Moisture test

Moisture level is measured using moisture analyzer after the solid milk kept in oven at115 oC

3. Specific gravity test

Addition of water to milk can be a big problem where we have unfaithful farm workers,milk transporters and greedy milk hawkers. A few farmers may also fall victim of this illegalpractice. Any buyer of milk should therefore assure himself/herself that the milk he/shepurchases is wholesome and has not been adulterated. Milk has a specific gravity. When itsadultered with water or other materials are added or both misdeeds are committed, the densityof milk changes from its normal value to abnormal. The lactometer test is designed to detectthe change in density of such adulterated milk. Carried out together with the Gerber butterfattest, it enables the milk processor to calculate the milk total solids (% TS) and solids not fat(SNF). In normal milk SNF should not be below 8.5%

Procedure

Mix the milk sample gently and pour it gently into a measuring cylinder (300-500ml). Let the Lactometer sink slowly into the milk. Read and record the last Lactometer degree(ºL) just above the surface of the milk. If the temperature of the milk is different from thecalibration temperature (Calibration temperature may be=20 oC) of the lactometer, calculatethe temperature correction. For each ºC above the calibration temperature add 0.2 ºL; for eachºC below calibration temperature subtract 0.2 ºL from the recorded lactometer reading.

Equipment used for determination of milk density

Chemical tests

1. Acidity test

Bacteria that normally develop in raw milk produce more or less of lactic acid. In theacidity test the acid is neutralized with 0.1 N Sodium Hydroxide and the amount of alkaline ismeasured. From this, the percentage of lactic acid can be calculated. Fresh milk contains inthis test also "natural acidity" which is due to the natural ability to resist pH changes .Thenatural acidity of milk is 0.16 - 0.18%. Figures higher than this signify developed acidity dueto the action of bacteria on milk sugar.

Apparatus

• A porcelain dish or small conical flask• 10 ml pipette, graduated• 1 ml pipette• A Burette, 0.1 ml graduations• A glass rod for stirring the milk in the dish• A Phenolphthalein indicator solution, 0.5%in 50% Alcohol• N Sodium hydroxide solution.

Apparatus used for acidity test

Procedure

9 ml of the milk measured into the porcelain dish/conical flask, 1 ml Phenopthalein isadded and then slowly from the burret, 0.1 N Sodium hydroxide under continuous mixing,until a faint pink colour appears.

The number of milliliters of Sodium hydroxide solution divided by 10 expresses thepercentage of lactic acid.

Acidity is kept around 0.13-0.15

2. Alcohol stability test

Stability of milk is tested at different alcohol levels and if the milk is clotted in 70%alcohol or below it is rejected.

The test is quick and simple. It is besed on instability of the proteins when the levelsof acid and/or rennet are increased and acted upon by the alcohol. Also increased levels ofalbumen (colostrum milk) and salt concentrates (mastitis) results in a positive test.

Procedure

The test is done by mixing equal amounts of milk and 68% of ethanol solution in asmall bottle or test tube. (68 % Ethanol solution is prepared from 68 ml 96 % (absolute)alcohol and 28 mls distilled water). If the tested milk is of good quality, there will be nocoagulation, clotting or precipitation, but it is necessary to look for small lumps. The firstclotting due to acid development can first be seen at 0.21-0.23% Lactic acid. For routinetesting 2 mls milk is mixed with 2 mls 68% alcohol.

Equipment used in alcohol test

3. Resazurin test

The Reassuring test is based on the color impairment to milk by the addition of a dyesuch as Resazurin. The removal of the oxygen from milk and the formation of reducingsubstances during bacterial metabolism cause the color loss. If the number of bacteria is high,the color loss is quick.

The procedure for making the resazurin test is as follows: Prepare resazurin solutionby dissolving one resazurin tablet (dye content/ tablet, approximately 11 mg) in 200 ml of hotdistilled water. Place one ml of dye solution in a sterile test tube, and then add 10 ml ofsample. Stopper the tube, place in the incubator and, when the temperature reaches 36 oC,invert to mix the milk and dye. Incubate at 36 oC. Tubes are examined and classified at theend of an hour in the "one-hour test" or at the end of three successive hourly intervals in the"triplereading test."

The following relationships of color and quality are generally accepted:

Color of Sample: Quality of Milk

1. Blue (no color change): Excellent

2, Blue to deep mauve: Good

3. Deep mauve to deep pink: Fair

4. Deep pink to whitish pink: Poor

5. White: Bad

Apparatus used in 10 min. Resazurin Test

4. Soluble solids

Soluble solid content is determined using a refractometer

Microbiological tests

1. Total plate count

By this technique, the total number of bacteria present in milk sample can bedetermined

2. Yeast and mold count

3. Coliform test

This test is done to check the presence of coliforms such as E. coli which areindicators of fecal contamination. Presumptive test and confirmed test are done here and thecompleted test is done in New Zealand.

4. Plaque test

This test detects the presence of bacteriophages.

Environmental control

The factory premise of Fonterra is covered by nets to prevent the entering of insectssuch as flies. Also they employ many tests to assess the cleanliness of the environment.

The air exposure test is done by keeping the lid of an Agar plate for 18 minutes at thefactory environment after the incubation colony forming units per square meter are counted.The test is carried out weekly.

Weekly swabs are taken from machinery and floor and they are also plated to betested for the presence microorganisms.

After sweeping the floor the collected dust samples are sent weekly to New Zealandfor the testing of Salmonella.

Three defense lines with bail stations are maintained specially against rodents andflying insects. There is a positive pressure maintained in the processing rooms. That meansair flows from inside to outside hence preventing the entrance of unwanted organisms. Theflies are caught using purple color bulbs.

The air is filtered using an air handling system which contains primary and secondaryfilters (microfilters). Only the filtered air is allowed to enter the plants.

The floor of the factory is washed with approved chemicals in critical hygienic area.Chlorine water is used in non critical hygienic areas.

Chorine foot baths are there to wash feet before entering the processing rooms. Beforeentering critical hygienic areas the feet are sprayed with isopropyl alcohol (70%)

The limited entry of outsiders to the factory prevents the contamination fromoutside sources.

Referenceshttp://www.fonterra.com

http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca