GEA has secured a contract to build a new infant formula plant in China for Shijiazhuang Junlebao Dairy.
The facility, which is being built adjacent to one completed in 2016, is a turnkey project for GEA, and sees the company responsible for the plant design, project execution, installation and commissioning, and automation.
Once completed, it is expected the facility will have a production capacity of six tons per hour. The project has already kicked off, with commercial production expected to begin in the second quarter of 2020.
Central to the plant will be the GEA MSD-1600 multi-stage spray dryer, which combines spray and fluid-bed drying in a three-stage drying process.
Founded in 1995, Junlebao is now said to be the largest dairy processing company in the Hebei province and the fourth largest dairy processing company in China. It has more than 8,000 employees across 16 production plants. The firm first entered the infant formula market in 2017.
In 2016, GEA provided the whole production line technology and plant for infant formula milk powder for the Junlebao factory located in Junyuan.
A Junlebao Dairy spokesperson said: “During the building of the 2016 plant we developed a very strong working relationship with GEA here in China. For this reason, GEA was the chosen partner for the new plant and we’re confident the project will be a success.”
Leon Han, head of dairy sales for Greater China at GEA, said: “We’ve worked very closely with Junlebao for years and it has been a real pleasure to see the success the plant we built for the company two years ago has had.
“The new plant will be the largest of its kind in China and we are delighted to be working with Junlebao again on this exciting project.”
Last year, GEA partnered with Almarai to create what the companies described as Saudi Arabia’s “largest and most modern dairy processing facility”.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024
