As it approaches its 90th anniversary, the Bayamo Dairy Products Enterprise, is the most diverse of its kind in the country, and is starting to feel the weight of the years, which is why efforts are currently underway to revitalize its facilities.
Founded in 1929 and nationalized after the triumph of the Revolution, Bayamo Dairy Products is composed of 10 Basic Enterprise Units (UEB) located in Granma province - six production and four service providers - and manufactures over 35 different products, including popular items such as condensed milk, infant formula, and nutritional supplements Materlac and Fortachón.
After years of decline, comprehensive repair and maintenance works are currently underway to change the “face” of the enterprise.
The renovations feature in the country’s Development Plan through 2030, and are geared toward improving the enterprise’s production and food safety processes.
Each one of Bayamo Dairy Products’ UEBs is a hive of activity with repair works taking place alongside the daily production processes.
Thus far, 6.5 million has been spent of the original four million peso investment plan, or 150% of the initial figure, stated engineer Rauel Medina, director general of Bayamo Dairy Products, speaking to Granma International.
He emphasized that such efforts have led to the notable development - over the last six months - of the entity’s industrial sector, and in particular its food safety processes.
In this regard he highlighted that all the UEBs have been fitted with sanitation filters, while works were also undertaken to repair floors, roofs, and plaster walls in production, packing and shipping areas, in different units.
Despite renovation works, the facilities continue to operate with the same out-dated technology, which is why staff members not only recognize the importance of these maintenance efforts, but also the need to sustain them.
“This is one of our great challenges, to ensure that what is done today lasts,” stated Medina.
Nonetheless, technology will also receive the benefits of the investment project, although not to the same degree.
Over the next year, the facilities’ refrigeration capacity is set to be improved, with the arrival of new equipment including refrigeration ammonia compressors, he added.
Meanwhile, Medina noted that efforts will be carried out to enhance steam production, with every unit scheduled to receive two working boilers by the end of 2016.
One of the key beneficiaries of the modernization process underway in Bayamo Dairy Products’ UEBs is El Alba.
The only one of its kind in the province, the 50 year old facility produces formula and evaporated milk for children up to six years of age, and despite still using the same out-dated technology, is undergoing renovations this year, which are already bearing fruit.
José Luis Cabrera, director of the UEB, noted that works were undertaken to fix the roof, floors, and plaster walls in different areas, while improvements were also carried out to regulate refrigeration temperature systems, vital for food production and conservation.
Meanwhile, the product sampling laboratory is being renovated this year, as part of the investment plan being implemented at the facility, while a sanitization filter has also been fitted, he added.
The cost of the works - which includes other areas at the facility – stands at over 350,000 CUP, according to Cabrera.
This year, El Alba is scheduled to produce 4,000 tons of regular and evaporated milk for children throughout the province, a plan which has already been 80% completed, he explained.
The plant also produces yoghurt destined for individuals with medically certified dietary requirements and flavored juice concentrates.
Renowned throughout the country for the quality and variety of its products, theLa Hacienda UEB is also receiving the benefits of renovation.
The facility produces several popular products such as natural yoghurt, butter, and cottage cheese, among other varieties.
Renovations were carried out in the refrigeration area, laboratory, and staff cafeteria, noted José Ángel Oliva, sales director at La Hacienda.
Meanwhile, efforts are currently focused on repairing the second boiler needed to generate steam for the production process, he noted.
New product lines are being installed in several facilities as part of the modernization process, including one to produce blue cheese.
Inaugurated on August 13, 2016, the new line is able to manufacture 30 tons of the product a year for the country’s tourist industry, according to Humberto Rondón director of Bayamo Dairy Products, speaking with the press, who noted that the entity is one of only three plants in the country which manufacture blue cheese - extremely popular with tourists, especially those from Europe.
Rondón highlighted the importance of re-launching the line, noting that the 30 tons produced by the Granma facility, in addition to the 70 manufactured by similar entities in Cienfuegos and Havana, meets just 55% of the demand generated by the country’s tourist sector, of approximately 180 tons.
He also stressed that work has been carried out in compliance with food production safety norms, and noted that the line is set to generate 150,000 CUP a year.
The UEB director also noted that Bayamo Dairy Products manufactured blue cheese in the 1980s, but production was suspended due to out-dated technology and limited resources available to renovate the industry.
As part of the process to modernize the country’s dairy industry, next year, facilities are set to be modified to produce other types of cheese, such as semi-hard varieties, as well as string and cream cheese.
Meanwhile, a new line of condensed milk will be installed in the Abigail González Dietary Foods UEB, the only facility in Cuba which manufactures the sought-after product.
According to engineer Rauel Medina, the line will be purchased once the feasibility study – currently is in its final stages - has been completed and approved.
This will enable the entity to manufacture 7,000 tons of the product annually, representing a significant increase from the facility’s current 800 ton capacity, he reported.
In addition to expanding products, the new line which should be ready by 2018, will allow 2,000 tons of condensed milk to be exported, commented Medina.
The revival of Bayamo Dairy Products production capacity is advancing in conjunction with the planned increase in milk production and collection, currently exceeding the annual plan by 2,000 tons, he added.
The UEB director recalled that the enterprise produced around 86 million liters of milk a year during the 1980s, and now achieves around 20 million, a figure which should increase to 40 by 2030.
He reiterated that the renovation process will allow the industry to take advantage of all milk produced and collected.
Although much work remains to be done in regards to recovery works throughout the enterprise, operating with out-dated technology, worn-down over years of constant use, employees at Bayamo Dairy Products work hard every day to produce top-quality foodstuffs, including delicious ice creams, recognized among the best in the country.
