A true success: BestPractices dairy no. 1 Ibérica

The first BestPractices Dairy Seminar held in Madrid on 18th and 19th October 2010 met with great interest from the Spanish and Portuguese dairy industry. Manuel Delgado, Managing Director of GEA Westfalia Separator Ibérica S.A., welcomed over 70 delegates from the Iberian peninsula’s dairy industry. A wealth of information about new developments from GEA Westfalia Separator awaited, and the meeting was also used to highlight to these industry experts the synergies which result from use of the full range of competence within the GEA Group structure. Consequently, presentations were also made by GEA Grenco, GEA Process Engineering Iberia (GEA Tuchenhagen and GEA Niro), GEA Procomac and GEA Niro Soavi.

“We want to share our expertise with you and boost the benefit”, stressed Manuel Delgado, briefly introducing the GEA Group in his capacity as host. The company is one of the largest system suppliers to producers in the steadily-growing sectors of food and energy. The GEA Group is benefiting directly from world-wide megatrends such as steady population growth, urbanization and an expanding middle class, growing energy requirements and increasing environmental awareness. The engineering services of the GEA Mechanical Equipment division, which includes GEA Flow Components (GEA Tuchenhagen) and GEA Niro Soavi as well as the GEA Westfalia Separator Group, provides the basis for technical implementation of these trends in liquid foods.

Spanish dairy market suffering under quotas The workshop concluded with an overview of the Spanish dairy market, enthusiastically presented by Louis Calabozo, Director General of the Federacion Nacional de Industrias Lacteas [FeNIL - National Dairy Industry Federation. The hot topic in the Spanish dairy industry is European quotas. Spain has a restricted quota of 6.2 million tonnes, but Spanish consumers use over nine million tonnes of milk and dairy products. The Spanish dairy industry has accepted the challenge and is now the market leader in Europe for enriched or functional dairy products, representing 23 percent of European consumption in this category - or as much as 40 percent for fermented dairy products. In addition to the domestic market, export in particular offers a great deal of potential. Independent institutes say that the demand for food world-wide is growing by an average of three percent a year, so there are potential prospects for the Spanish dairy industry here too.

 The first BestPractices Dairy Seminar held by the GEA Westfalia Separator Group, which delegates gave a very positive reception, is planned to continue - and not just in Spain. The intention is to promote the concept in South America, too, in the foreseeable future - two have already been held in Brazil (2006, 2009) and one in Lima (2008).