GEA and Chr. Hansen have collaborated to open a new fermentation plant for bacterial cultures at Chr. Hansen’s site in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The facility consists of four production lines: two lines with 45 cubic metre fermenters and two lines with 100 cubic metre fermenters.
GEA, the international technology group that focuses on process technology, collaborated with Chr. Hansen to deliver one of these fermentation lines to the customer’s production facility – with installation taking place while existing production lines were running.
According to Chr. Hansen EVP of global operations Torsten Steenholt, two criteria were crucial for the company when choosing its partner: the ability to meet a very high level of hygienic requirements and providing an effective and high level of automation during production.
“The hygienic requirements when producing bacterial cultures are much stricter than for other types of food production,” he said.
“We needed a supplier that could provide this in their application solution for cultures, along with the automated functions, and GEA accomplished this task to our great satisfaction. Furthermore, the high level of hygiene and the automated production process have enabled significant cost savings.”
Ulrik Lund Jakobsen, head of food applications at GEA, points out that the project, which began in September 2015, is part of a ten-year plan that consists of the ongoing expansion of Chr. Hansen’s fermentation plant.
“We work together with Chr. Hansen on a both strategic, project related and operational level,” he said. “This makes for a very strong dynamic and has played a major part in the successful completion of the AIR17-project as well as the entire ten-year project collaboration.
“Moreover, the production site in Copenhagen is not the only Chr. Hansen site where we collaborate using this model.”
Last month Chr. Hansen CEO Cees de Jong announced he will leave the company after five years leading the business. The Danish ingredients company has now began a process to find his replacement.
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