DENMARK – Arla Foods Ingredients (AFI) has developed an advanced milk separation technology that has the capacity to separate milk into its different protein components.
The Demark-based ingredients supplier says its new innovation called milk fractionation will enable the selection of specific pure milk proteins, such as casein and serum whey proteins.
With the new technology, AFI is confident that it will be better positioned to create next-generation dairy products, for applications spanning infant formula and sports nutrition to hospitality and clinical nutrition.
“The method has been several years in development and I’m delighted to see what was once a vision become a commercial reality with the power to completely revolutionize targeted nutrition for vulnerable groups,” said Henrik Andersen, CEO of Arla Foods Ingredients.
“As science-based innovators we are driven to invent and reinvent our processes to ensure we have the best possible products available and continue to lead the way in whey.”
Arla’s method bypasses the cheese-making processes – previously considered the only way to separate milk’s different proteins from whey.
Andersen notes that traditional cheese-making demands significant quantities of organic milk to produce the volumes required to meet demand.
By circumventing the cheese-making entirely, “ we can significantly increase production and, at the same time, offer parents and guardians greater clarity of the provenance of the organic infant milk formula,” reveals Andersen.
The process is currently being used for infant formula at AFI’s dairy in Videbaek, Denmark with plans underway to launch AFI’s first organic private label infant formula using its milk fractionation technology in 2022.
Earlier, the Danish dairy cooperative Arla Foods unveiled a new five-year strategy, called Future26, on sustainable dairy production.
In the next five years, Arla said it is prepared to increase its investments by more than 40% to more than €4bn ($4.62bn) to focus on sustainability, digitalization, new production technologies and product development.
The company also plans on increasing its dividend to more than €1bn ($1.16bn) to support its farmer owners on their sustainability journey.
In the next five years, Arla said it will continue data-driven sustainable dairy production throughout its value chain and raise its commitments to meet the 1.5-degree goal set by the Paris Agreement.
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