Retail milk pasteuriser - advice please!

[crashbox]

We are all hurting with the current milk price, and an opportunity has come up to sell some milk via retail, in a nearby farm shop. Demand would be for 200 litre deliveries, non-homogenised preferred.

Can anyone offer advise on pasteurisers for retail milk, please? E.g.

- Any better/worse brands/types out there?
- Batch vs. continuous flow?
- How much do they cost?
- Do you pipe the milk in there direct from the parlour, or take it chilled from the bulk tank?

Any advice appreciated really.

Thanks all,

CB

 

[Bangoverthebar]

I was a brewer in a previous life. Continuous flow is too expensive and complicated for small volumes. 500l a hour would be the minimum.

A basic water bath pasteuriser with a ice bank for cooling the milk would be ideal and easy to maintain.

 

[betweenthelines]

I'd seriously look at Green top (unpasteurised aka fresh) before selling pasteurised through a shop.

Loads more hoops to jump through but you would be selling a real premium product. Selling pasteurised through a shop won't really get you any customer loyalty as they can buy the same thing cheaper in most corner shops-plus the shop will add their margin on top of the price you recieve.

I think @Tim G on here sells fresh.

 

[upnortheast]

As said above for the volumes you mention batch machine would do the job.
Depends if you think the volumes will grow. When we put in a second 900 l hour cont flow machine 2 years ago s/h cost about £12k
Heard a quote recently for an automatic batch Pasturiser by telme coming out at around 10k.

Charles Wait usualy has machines available

Stocklist

CMN Technology stocklist

www.cmntechnologyltd.co.uk

Some batch machines on FB marketplace just now

Unpastuerised mentioned above. Biggest prob, Limitations where you can sell, you can only sell it off farm or farmers markets. & the (slight ) risk of being blamed for a food poisoning outbreak.

These folk got blamed

Six food poisoning cases being linked to South Lakeland farm

INVESTIGATIONS have started following the confirmation of half a dozen food poisoning cases in South Lakeland.

www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk

No prob filling the batch machine direct from the parlour
Cont flow machine best supplied from a holding tank

@Tim G been down this road

 

[Tim G]

I'd seriously look at Green top (unpasteurised aka fresh) before selling pasteurised through a shop.

Loads more hoops to jump through but you would be selling a real premium product. Selling pasteurised through a shop won't really get you any customer loyalty as they can buy the same thing cheaper in most corner shops-plus the shop will add their margin on top of the price you recieve.

I think @Tim G on here sells fresh.

You can't sell unpasteurised cows milk to a shop to retail, it's farm gate sales only.

 

[crashbox]

As said above for the volumes you mention batch machine would do the job.
Depends if you think the volumes will grow. When we put in a second 900 l hour cont flow machine 2 years ago s/h cost about £12k
Heard a quote recently for an automatic batch Pasturiser by telme coming out at around 10k.

Charles Wait usualy has machines available

Stocklist

CMN Technology stocklist

www.cmntechnologyltd.co.uk

Some batch machines on FB marketplace just now

Unpastuerised mentioned above. Biggest prob, Limitations where you can sell, you can only sell it off farm or farmers markets. & the (slight ) risk of being blamed for a food poisoning outbreak.

These folk got blamed

Six food poisoning cases being linked to South Lakeland farm

INVESTIGATIONS have started following the confirmation of half a dozen food poisoning cases in South Lakeland.

www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk

No prob filling the batch machine direct from the parlour
Cont flow machine best supplied from a holding tank

@Tim G been down this road

Thanks, that's very useful

If it's only small volumes, then we could probably achieve a similar profit by working harder on the main dairy business.

Nervous that a batch pasteuriser might not actually move us forward, if we weigh up profit per hour worked (inc. delivery times, van, cleaning, etc.)...

There is a second outlet interested and we could also look at selling our own, if we go for the opportunity it needs some scale, I think.

 

[onesiedale]

Thanks, that's very useful

If it's only small volumes, then we could probably achieve a similar profit by working harder on the main dairy business.

Nervous that a batch pasteuriser might not actually move us forward, if we weigh up profit per hour worked (inc. delivery times, van, cleaning, etc.)...

There is a second outlet interested and we could also look at selling our own, if we go for the opportunity it needs some scale, I think.

you got 3 phase electric there?

 

[upnortheast]

Main issue is who is doing the extra work, don`t underestimate how much time it will take.
Works here because elder son does the farming, youger son does the bottles. They help each other out but their own job takes priority.

High chance of problems if you were trying to bottle milk between milking, feeding the calves & changing the wheel bearing on the scaper tractor.

Few years ago a story in the papers of a fellow bottling milk, making butter, yoghurt, all sorts & seemingly doing very well.
On the grapevine I heard he had been telling a neighbour his calving interval had gone out by 30 days & other issues with the cows. So he probably lost more on the cows than he made with the bottling

 

[crashbox]

you got 3 phase electric there?

Yes, dairy runs on it.

 

[crashbox]

Main issue is who is doing the extra work, don`t underestimate how much time it will take.
Works here because elder son does the farming, youger son does the bottles. They help each other out but their own job takes priority.

High chance of problems if you were trying to bottle milk between milking, feeding the calves & changing the wheel bearing on the scaper tractor.

Few years ago a story in the papers of a fellow bottling milk, making butter, yoghurt, all sorts & seemingly doing very well.
On the grapevine I heard he had been telling a neighbour his calving interval had gone out by 30 days & other issues with the cows. So he probably lost more on the cows than he made with the bottling

I agree, it's too easy to take your eye off the ball in the dairy game for a "few extra quid" and end up no further forward.

 

[upnortheast]

you got 3 phase electric there?

Yep all but the smallest kit will run on 3ph.
1st ten years we were processing ran the shed on a 30kva genny. Then the lines past us were rebuilt & upgraded so were able to get 3ph supply

 

[upnortheast]

You located near lots of "chimney pots" ?
Shops are probably our least profitable sector.
Mini bulk into ice cream makers & coffee shops the better end.

When we started we did not realise the coffee market existed. One of newcastle`s "coffee kings " experimented with all the milk available. He found ours performed best for holding foam & taste.

Like farmers, the coffee enthusiast all talk to each other so we ended up with lots of coffee customers. They are more interested in a good product than saving a few pence

Yesterday the largest coffee customer who has a number of outlets took over 300 litres of whole milk. Simple to service, all one size whereas a shop will probably need 6 lines

 

[crashbox]

When we started we did not realise the coffee market existed. One of newcastle`s "coffee kings " experimented with all the milk available. He found ours performed best for holding foam & taste.

Wow that's great! Why do you think that is, cow breed, or diet?

 

[upnortheast]

Wow that's great! Why do you think that is, cow breed, or diet?

A number of factors
I think not homoganising
Freshness
Decent protein
Not standardized
Dairy operating in these parts makes a big thing of how they " blend " milk to make barista milk. Our customers who have tried it say ours - straight from the cow, - is just as good.

 

[betweenthelines]

Might have to get "permission" from your milk buyer?

 

[Tim G]

We are all hurting with the current milk price, and an opportunity has come up to sell some milk via retail, in a nearby farm shop. Demand would be for 200 litre deliveries, non-homogenised preferred.

Can anyone offer advise on pasteurisers for retail milk, please? E.g.

- Any better/worse brands/types out there?
- Batch vs. continuous flow?
- How much do they cost?
- Do you pipe the milk in there direct from the parlour, or take it chilled from the bulk tank?

Any advice appreciated really.

Thanks all,

CB

Thinking out loud a bit as I don't know too much about pasteurising. Is the 200 litres a day, a week, a month?
A batch pasteuriser would be ideal I'd have thought, get a size or two above what you need now though. And I'd have thought you'd need one that chills the milk down too, unless you've a small bulk tank to cool it in. Bottling takes time too, probably need a big fridge/cold room to store it in once bottled and before delivering. All needs space to do it, environmental health approved too. Chiller van to deliver. Christ, I've spent some money for you! How much will it sell for? £1 a litre? Say 40p for the milk, 20p for the bottle, lid and label. That leaves 40p to do the job, pay the electric, give the retailer a cut and cover any wastage.

 

[upnortheast]

Might have to get "permission" from your milk buyer?

One of the good things about First Milk, they don`t have a problem with fluctuating volumes, indeed they are encouraging direct selling with their Golden Hooves brand.
I`ve heard 10% max direct sales mentioned for Arla
Don`t know about other buyers

 

[Greenbeast]

One of the good things about First Milk, they don`t have a problem with fluctuating volumes, indeed they are encouraging direct selling with their Golden Hooves brand.
I`ve heard 10% max direct sales mentioned for Arla
Don`t know about other buyers

well sell over 75% of ours direct

 

[Greenbeast]

Thinking out loud a bit as I don't know too much about pasteurising. Is the 200 litres a day, a week, a month?
A batch pasteuriser would be ideal I'd have thought, get a size or two above what you need now though. And I'd have thought you'd need one that chills the milk down too, unless you've a small bulk tank to cool it in. Bottling takes time too, probably need a big fridge/cold room to store it in once bottled and before delivering. All needs space to do it, environmental health approved too. Chiller van to deliver. Christ, I've spent some money for you! How much will it sell for? £1 a litre? Say 40p for the milk, 20p for the bottle, lid and label. That leaves 40p to do the job, pay the electric, give the retailer a cut and cover any wastage.

Soon mounts up!
Even just putting in a new cont flow pasteuriser and bottling line has cost us a fair few bob here, money that has to be found first before it can come back.

 

[Tim G]

Soon mounts up!
Even just putting in a new cont flow pasteuriser and bottling line has cost us a fair few bob here, money that has to be found first before it can come back.

Certainly does. I concluded a while back that 'dairy processing' and 'stainless steel' were phrases similar to 'its for my horse' or 'we are getting married', in that mentioning any of those words caused at least an extra 0 to be added on to the end of the price.