Plant-based milk is becoming more and more popular among young people as a substitute for animal protein milk. The plant-based beverage contains less calories, fat, it is more natural and healthy, these characteristics make it gradually become a new beverage trend. This increase in milk-based beverage demand also brings new opportunities to beverage processing plants. In recent years, more and more customers have begun to purchase plant protein beverage production lines from us, This article mainly introduces the frequently asked questions(FAQ) of the plant-based milk processing line.
Q: What is plant-based milk?
A: Plant-based milk refer to finished products made by processing fruits, seeds, stone fruits, nuts, etc. of plants with high protein content as the main raw materials.
Q: What plant is suitable for processing plant-based milk?
A: There are four kinds of plants that are suitable for making the plant-based protein beverage:
—Fruit nuts: coconut, walnut, almonds, cashew nuts, pecan, etc.
—Fruit seeds: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc.
—Grains: oats, peanuts, rice, millet, sesame, etc.
— Beans: Soybean, peas, etc.
Q: What are the general processing steps of plant-based drinks?
A: The plant-based milk processing procedure is: raw material shelling, soaking and peeling, grinding and filtering, blending, homogenization, UHT sterilization and filling, secondary retort sterilizing.
Q: What is the capacity of the plant-based milk processing plant?
A: The capacity is from 500kg-10000kg per hour with the raw material input.
Q: What container can the end products fill?
A: The plant-based milk can be filled into glass bottles, PP bottles, metal cans, aseptic brick cartons, and pouches for consumption.
Q: What information should I provide before I request a quotation?
A: 1. You need to tell me what is your raw material and how many kilograms do you want to proceed per hour.
2. You need to give us the ratio of water and raw material when for refining/milling.
3. Please tell us what ingredients do you want to add when for formulation in the blending tank.
4. What container do you need to fill of the end products?
5. What shelf life do you expect for the end products?
Q: What is the shelf life of the end products?
A: The shelf life of the plant-based beverage mainly depends on your sterilization methods and the filling containers and the ingredients you add.
—If you hot filling into bottles or cans, and there are two sterilization processes, then the beverage will have more than 12 months shelf life.
—If you aseptic filling into cartons with UHT sterilizing, then the shelf life can reach 9-12 months.
—If you cold filling into bottles with pasteurization technology, then the shelf life is about 7-45 days in a cold chain environment according to the ingredient you have added.
Q: What is the most popular sterilization method in a plant-based milk processing plant?
A: When we make the plant-based milk, there are three sterilizing technology that are used mostly:
— Indirect UHT sterilizing: Before filling into containers, one tubular UHT sterilizer(137℃ for 3-5S) will be used for thermal treatment of the material. After sterilizing, the material can reach commercial aseptic.
—DSI direct sterilizing: Use the steam directly spraying into the material to do the heat exchange to complete the sterilization. DSI sterilizer(150℃ for 0.1S) has a better effect than the UHT sterilizer as the sterilization time is shorter.
—Retort sterilizing: After the plant-based milk is filled into containers, the secondary sterilization technology will be used. As the milk is neutral material, so the retort sterilizer(120℃ for 15-20min) is used. The retort sterilizer will be used only for hot filling technology.
Q: How do you ensure the food safety of your plant-based milk processing machines?
A: Firstly, All the machines that contact material are made of SUS304/316L food-grade material.
Secondly, the whole processing plant is equipped with a CIP station, which can clean the machines, tanks, pipelines, pumps efficiently and automatically.
Thirdly, all equipment is fully automatic operation, minimizing manual operation to reduce the risk of pollution.
Q: How much does it cost for a plant-based milk processing plant?
A: The investment for one plant-based milk processing plant depends on the production line capacity, what end products you want to produce, packing style, automation degree. It has a big range of flexibility according to clients’ requirements and budgets. In general, the cost is from 100,000USD-10,000,000USD according to actual situations.
Q: What service do you offer after we buy your plant-based milk processing machines?
A: After the machine is finished making, we will look for the shipping forwarder to deliver the goods to your factory, then you prepare the water, electricity, steam and compressed air, and our after-service engineer’s team will travel to your site for the machine installation, commissioning and trainee. Until you accept and confirm the service and our engineers team can leave.
Q: What is the warranty of your plant-based milk processing machines?
A: After the machine arrived at your site, all machines will enjoy 12 months warranty, during this time, if the machine breaks down or need to replace the spare parts, we offer free debugging and fixing service along with the spare parts. After 12 months, we still offer paid repair service, replacement parts and free consult service. When we receive an after-sales service order, our after-sales service team will respond and deal with it within 24 hours.
