Page 21 - Food&Drink Magazine October 2018

DAIRY
the benefits of the wonderful environment we enjoy far outweigh any of these challenges,” she says.
“It was a rather complex construction project, and managing the installation and commissioning of each element was very involved.”
A De Laval automatic milking rotary (AMR) system capable of handling 540 cows three times a day will supplement the existing dairy, which is operating at capacity.
The Australian subsidiary of German manufacturer GEA Group has installed low- temperature pasteurising and processing equipment, and the production side of the building includes cool room storage and product dispatch facilities.
A PRODUCTIVITY BOOST
Initially Bannister Downs will focus on its 10 main product lines and on maximising their production capacity.
“There is room for more lines,
but I think it would only be some additional flavoured milks that we’d consider at this stage,” Daubney says.
The company currently processes 5-6 million litres in volume per annum, and anticipates three or fourfold growth in the future.
“The two [Ecolean] EL1 filling machines fill up to 2900 packages per hour and our EL2+ fills up to 12,000 packages per hour,” Daubney says, noting that once the company settles into
MAIN: Bannister Downs uses the Ecolean pouch packaging system.
ABOVE: The Creamery enables low-temperature pasteurising and processing.
LEFT: The new $3 million robotic rotary dairy has won building and construction awards.
its new facility and its internal systems, processes and teams are operating optimally, it will look at growing production volumes for new market opportunities.
POUCH WITH
A DIFFERENCE
Another industry and technology first will be the packaging used for the company’s dairy products.
Back in 2005, Bannister Downs was the first Australian
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