IDM ¦ Ingredients
OUTPUT
bulk starter
culture
Figure 3: Calculation of the profitability of direct starter cultures
3. fixed: mainly investments in stainless
steel (depreciation and interest)
and associated maintenance and staff
training. In addition, risk management,
documentation and certifications are
increasingly important prerequisites to
run starter cultures.
Figure 2 indicates the full costs per ton
of cheese when (re)investing in a bulk
starter culture system scaled to different
cheese volumes.
A dairy producing 15,000 tons/a of
cheese incurs a true cost in use (CiU)
of approx. 30 €/ton cheese. If media
were used as culture medium instead of
skimmed milk, it would be considerably
more. With 5 times more cheese production
capacity (75,000 tons/a), the CiU is
halved to about 15 €/ton cheese. The
calculation is based on the assumption
of ideal conditions, which means, actual
overdosing and extraordinary samples
or analyses are only roughly taken into
account.
So, what about the profitability of direct
starters? As illustrated earlier, profitability
is the ratio of input to output.
Chr. Hansen has a systematic procedure
to evaluate added value and profitability
(see Figure 3). Based on the output with
the bulk culture in terms of quality (e.g.
texture/taste) and performance (e.g.
yield), we work with the cheese makers
to find out what improved output
is achievable with direct starters. We
bring our experience, define measurement
parameters and the corresponding
analysis methods and go into trials with
the cheese makers (qualification and
validation). The result are figures, data
and facts for an accurate evaluation of
the output with direct starters. The added
value is offset against the necessary
input of the culture systems as a full
cost rate. This is particularly important
for (re)investments in the system of bulk
starter culture as it should also pay off
in the future.
But what about the future of the bulk
starter cultures? In reality there is no
further development in bulk starter cultures.
In contrast, Chr. Hansen created a modular
culture system with individually
defined culture components more than
15 years ago and consistently invests in
the development of direct starter culture
systems. State-of-the-art methods
are used, the precision of which is very
impressive – like ‘finding a needle in a
haystack’ – and providing extreme accuracy,
consistency and quality in the
production of direct starters. With more
than 40,000 fully defined bacterial
strains and our focus on the microbial
platform at our core, we can respond to
the needs of cheese makers with great
agility.
We offer microbial solutions for plants
(plant protection) to animals (health)
© 2021 Chr. Hansen. All rights reserved.
OUTPUT
direct starter
culture
gross
added value
direct starter
Added value
direct starter
culture
INPUT
full cost rate bulk
starter culture
INPUT
full cost rate
direct starter
culture
net added
value of
direct starter
for cheese
producer
to humans (probiotics). Chr. Hansen invests
8% of turnover per year in R&D
and 17% of the employees work in
R&D. This is a depth of knowledge, innovation
and implementation that prepares
us – and you – well for the future.
All this is reflected in the proven Easy-
Set® Flora™ direct starter culture series
for semi-hard cheeses. We are constantly
developing this further, for example
with optimized acidification speed,
more taste and texture formation as
well as controllable gas formation and
phage robustness of the latest generation.
For precise and practical handling
of direct starter cultures, we offer solutions
ranging from optimized freezers to
the concept of automatic culture dosing.
We are increasingly available digitally
– 24/7: whether it is online ordering
of our products, support from our
application engineers, joint innovation
projects or simply because you seek advice.
And if one day cheese should be produced
differently or milk is no longer
the only raw material – you can be sure
that we have the right direct starter cultures
in place. Be profitable today and
tomorrow with direct starter cultures
from Chr. Hansen.
Now it is your turn to make the right
decision for your culture system. I will
be happy to help you.
8 · July/August 2021 ¦ international-dairy.com
/www.bockpack.com
/international-dairy.com
