Zamorano’s Dairy Plant is an university entreprise where students acquire theoretical and practical knowledge on the detail-oriented industrial processing of products that perish quickly, such as milk and its derivatives. This process must be closely watched and analyzed from pasteurization – to ensure its quality- to the final processing and packaging for the production of cheese and other products like yogurt and ice cream.
The plant develops more than 32 real products that are marketed locally and nationally.
It has a scale model industrial-type infrastructure with specialized equipment such as pasteurizers, cream separators and packaging equipment, among others.
Innovation
Research in new product development or dairy processing techniques are some of the topics fourth year students from the Food Agroindustry career deal with in their theses.
One example of these projects is the evaluation of new dairy cultures for cheddar cheese to reduce its aging time and improve its taste. Others involve the analysis of stabilizers to improve and increase the yield of cream cheese, and the development of natural preservatives to increase the duration of milk, among others. Other research has led to products that will soon enter the market, such as yogurt based dips, smoked cheese, liquid yogurt, as well as new traditionally homemade products like cheese curds, which will soon be manufactured on an industrial level.
Outreach
This plant receives 5,000 liters of milk daily, 3000 liters from Zamorano and the other 2000 from local producers, thus contributing to the economy of the communities in the valley.
Zamorano shares the knowledge obtained from the research related to the extensive world of dairy processing. The plant works as a laboratory where new and more effective processing technologies are transmitted through an extensive program of courses on a regional level, with an applied and practical approach. In these courses dairy plant managers and/or supervisors, people related with agroindustry, development agency personnel, etc., are taught subjects, such as the following:
1. Current dairy industry situation
- Introduction to milk composition
- Raw milk quality
- Milk pasteurization
- Cheese production
- Marketing of traditionally homemade dairy products
- Dairy industry practices
Profits
The Dairy Plant’s profits are allocated to the students’ scholarship fund.
