Gönenli Süt constructing first toddler dietary formulation plant in Turkey

The facility, which is being built at Gönenli’s new site in Akhisar, will produce infant formula for major global brands and reduce the country’s reliance on imports. Production capacity is expected to be 13,800 tons per year, with the facility scheduled to go into operation in March 2023.

Gönenli Süt was founded in 2015 and has its headquarters in Ístanbul and is one of the largest contract milk producers in Turkey. The company’s existing plant in Balıkesir processes 800 tons of raw milk a day into cheese, UHT and ESL (extended shelf life) milk for global brands and discount stores.

In addition to many types of dairy products, Gönenli also focuses on high-tech nutritional products and plant-based milk alternatives in cooperation with multinational corporations. Gönenli is the first dairy company in Turkey to be licensed to manufacture enteral nutrition products and has pioneered local production for two of the three existing multinational companies that dominate the Turkish market.

The rapid growth in the domestic and international dairy markets meant that the existing plant could no longer meet demand. In 2019 Gönenli made the decision to expand at the new location in Akhisar and to build a new plant. The new facility will expand Gönenli’s capacity for processing UHT and ESL milk for existing and new customers around the world. For this part of the plant, GEA supplies separators and an MVR1 (Mechanical Vapor Recompression) evaporator.

The Akhisar facility will also produce the first domestic production of baby food.

Zeki Sözen, President of Gönenli Dairy, said: “The production of baby food is crucial for Turkey as everything is imported. While food self-sufficiency is a major concern for many nations, it is easy to imagine the importance of infant formula.

“We believe that this project will also be a success story and a milestone for the Turkish dairy industry, not only for the production of baby food, but also for the production of many nutritional products.”

A GEA MSD 500 spray dryer with a capacity of more than 2,000 kg / h powder and TVR (Thermal Vapor Recompression) evaporator systems (2TVR1, 8,000 kg / h) process the baby food.

GEA spray dryer. Image: GEA

GEA has been working with Gönenli since 2016 and supplies separator technology and equipment for UHT and ESL milk processing lines at the Balikesir plant. In June 2021, GEA received the order to plan, configure and deliver the processing section for infant milk powder for the new plant in Akhisar.

The company has also selected GEA’s Cyclone Extra Efficiency (CEE) equipment, which offers high powder separation efficiency, higher yield and lower emissions to reduce the risk of smearing, lower the rate of wear and possibly increase the powder size and properties to enhance. GEA calculations showed that Gönenli Süt was able to reduce powder loss by 33 tons / year by choosing CEE.