Launching a new cottage cheese production line, or scaling an existing one? Then there are things to consider. You’ll want to secure throughput and consistent product quality. You’ll also want to minimise product waste, optimise your CIP (Cleaning-in-place) processes and reduce usage of energy and water, while making products that are aligned with today’s market trends and consumer demands.
Now, that’s quite a puzzle. But fortunately, there are ways to make sure the pieces fit together – in an optimal way.
Joanna Majewska, Manager of the Cheese Line Solution team here at Tetra Pak, is addressing challenges such as the above on a daily basis. Joanna and her team work closely with customers to design solutions, refine product recipes, and optimise lines to every product’s specific requirement.
First of all: Optimisation is about securing product quality at the lowest cost and with minimum impact on the environment. But when talking about quality, what exactly do we mean? In other words, how is quality in cottage cheese defined? Joanna explains:
“It’s about reliability and consistency. Clean label is also an extremely important aspect for consumers. They perceive the product as healthy and expect it to remain stable during its whole shelf life. So, the biggest challenge when it comes to cottage cheese, is to make a product that will look and taste the same every time, a product that is consistent not only at the moment it is produced, but also within the whole time period it is expected to be consumed. Cottage cheese is a very fragile product, so having good raw material is key. The milk quality, of course, but also other raw materials. Like cream or dressing with additives, yoghurt, or functional ingredients, depending on product. Our task, as a line solution provider, is to keep that quality by implementing the correct equipment and process conditions”
On the subject of looks – i.e., product appearance – Joanna continues:
“The consumer can see the cheese in the package, so we want to make it as appetising as possible. To consistently ensure the curd size consumers prefer, we need to precisely cut and treat the curd as gently as possible.”
In summary, optimisation is about crafting a product that meets consumer expectations on taste, convenience, health benefits and more – that’s where optimisation starts. In finding a way to improve processes, to reduce waste and use resources wisely to, ultimately, produce the product the consumer wants.
And it is, of course, also a matter of cost-efficiency.
When designing a solution for cottage cheese production, we apply a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) mindset. This approach helps ensure that every decision contributes to optimizing operational costs over the long term.
TCO considers all costs associated with a production line – from initial design and energy consumption to maintenance and equipment lifespan. The latter is particularly crucial: if we know a machine will operate reliably for at least ten years, that significantly impacts its total cost of ownership and makes it a more strategic investment.
By evaluating solutions through a TCO lens, we can clearly demonstrate how different choices support cost efficiency and long-term value.
Get those cost drivers to slow down
Efficient use of key utilities and materials is an important part of any cost-controlling endeavours. The three main aspects here are raw material, consumption of water, and heating and cooling efficiency.
“When it comes to the raw material, the milk, we aim to minimise the losses,” Joanna says. “We want to secure as much product out of the milk as possible. In a cottage cheese context, ‘product’ refers specifically to the grain. So we don’t want uncut portions, but grains that fall within a defined range of expectations. In Tetra Pak, we guarantee these results. Additionally, our customers seek solutions for concentrated proteins and technologies that improve production yield. We ensure this through precise equipment control and carefully developed recipes.”
More about recipe control later. Regarding energy, Joanna continues:
“Both heat and cooling affect product stability. Usage is carefully managed through our closed equipment and our system for controlling and recording all crucial parameters.”
The heart of the cottage cheese-making process is the cheese vat. Tetra Pak® Grainy Cheese Vat E4 is equipped with a dimple jacket, which is filled with hot water and wrapped around the vat. It makes it possible to heat the curd while maintaining a precise temperature control.
“This is an extremely important part of the process. It has an impact on product quality, and on costs related to use of heat.”
Heating and cooling are essential stages in the production process, allowing us to guide the transformation of the curd, harden the grain, define the proper structure and bring it down to the required storage temperature. These steps contribute significantly to overall energy and water consumption. We actively manage this through precise control of process parameters, carefully selected equipment – the already mentioned Tetra Pak® Grainy Cheese Vat E4 for heating, Tetra Pak® Washer Drainer for washing, Tetra Pak® Cooling Tower for final washing and cooling, and Tetra Pak® Blender VCC for maintaining temperatures – and thoughtful design that ensures thermal efficiency and consistency.
Water also plays a key role in the rinsing phase, where lactose and lactic acid is removed from the grain. The extent of lactose removal depends on the target pH of the final product, which influences both taste and shelf stability. This process is tightly controlled to meet product specifications while minimizing water usage.
In addition, optimizing our CIP (Cleaning-in-Place) cycles helps reduce the use of water and cleaning agents. By fine-tuning cleaning times, concentration, and sequences, we minimize wastewater and ensure hygienic conditions.
Speaking of waste: The cottage cheese vat is designed to minimise curd losses through precise wire cutting and optimised tool positioning. Cross knives and harps are adjusted to maintain minimum distance from the vat walls, thereby limiting uncut curd. Wire cutting ensures gentle curd handling with low friction and no surface damage. After cutting, the harp moves to a parking position supported by a specially shaped wall – the waffle plate – which further reduces uncut areas. This design minimises both quantitative and qualitative product losses.
Smart process design, line efficiency, technology that minimise waste and utilities consumption – these all provide ways to help you cut costs. And to stay in full control of your operations, automation and digitalisation are essential. Digital tools help you track performance and identify where there is room for improvements.
Let’s back up a bit. Let’s talk about how the cottage cheese-making process begins. In short, it starts with a culture. In cheese production, a starter culture is added to the milk to begin the fermentation process. These microscopic architects kickstart fermentation and transform lactose into lactic acid. Acidification is essential for curd formation, the right texture and flavour profile, and for preventing the growth of unwanted bacteria.
While cottage cheese is a traditional product, starter culture producers have started to explore different milk compositions and additives to try to shorten the process times in the vat. This means the equipment needs to be able to meet the new requirements.
“The producers want to make the process quicker because time is money. Making cottage cheese is a batch process, and it takes a few hours in the vat. But the faster we can produce in the vat, the quicker it is ready for the next batch. And thanks to our recipe management system, our vats are ready for any future changes,” Joanna says.
She emphasizes the importance of close collaboration with starter culture suppliers.
“We constantly discuss with them, often on site in our projects, to understand their developments and adapt our equipment and processes accordingly,” Joanna adds.
Many cottage cheese producers are moving towards more functional products, where additives are added to the dressing or the curd itself. But let’s start from the beginning. Because before the recipe can be controlled, it needs to be developed. Joanna and her team helps here too.
“We start with discussions about what the customer wants to achieve at the end. We talk about the composition of the final product to determine the production steps of the whole process, including raw milk preparation. The composition of milk is very important. We see a growing demand for concentrated milk, with more protein content, to get more product from the liquid.”
When it then comes to recipe management, the capabilities of the enclosed cottage cheese vat are unique.
“If we have more proteins, we need to make sure that we have the tools in the vat to control the process differently. Because depending on what we put in the vat, temperatures and times will differ, and so will the speed of the cutting tools. We call this an intelligent recipe system. It provides excellent possibilities for customers to optimise the line by literally changing specific parameters if something changes with the raw milk or other additives.”
The vat is where a lot of the magic happens. But let’s not forget the blender. This is where the ready curd is mixed with dressing and additives.
“Here, it is crucial to mix it all in a way that doesn’t damage anything. So we need to make it gentle, we need to maintain the temperature, and we need to ensure that the mix is transferred to the filling machine,” Joanna explains.
Small residues can affect product quality. True for production of all types of food, but especially so for cottage cheese. It is therefore critical to ensure that all surfaces are fully cleaned and to meet the strict microbiological requirements after each cleaning cycle. And therefore, the equipment is easy to clean. But there are also other food safety considerations in the design. Joanna explains:
“The fact that the vat is closed is one thing that improves hygiene but design of components inside the vat distinguishes this solution. The cottage cheese vat is filled to half of the volume, to ensure that the curd is cut with consistent quality across the entire height of the coagulum. This filling level allows for optimal cutting performance and uniform curd structure. So, it is extremely important to make sure there is nothing that can fall down into the product. The vat’s cutting tools are designed with full hygienic integrity: a fully solid shaft with no hollow sections, sealed threads, and a patented wire assembly technique without bolts. The open shaft bearing complies with USDA hygienic standards, and no moving parts are located above the product. This eliminates contamination risks and ensures safe, clean operation throughout the process.”
A vat is a large piece of equipment – and a large investment. That’s why they are robust and designed to deliver many years of consistent performance. The construction of the dimple jacket and overall design provide thermal resistance. As a result, the vat maintains its shape over time, which is something that otherwise can affect the preciseness of the cutting.
And when on the subject of long-term performance, Tetra Pak’s experts add yet another dimension to the robust equipment.
“After commissioning, our team of cheese technologists regularly visit our customers’ sites to identify potential line improvements,” Joanna says. “They look to decrease downtime, to optimise CIP, to control the process better.”
This support also presents a way to address the general skills shortage in the dairy industry.
“Our experts help maintain efficiency over time. They also automate as much as possible, to improve control, to avoid dependency on specific individuals – and to optimise our customer’s operations.”
(Structured, long-term support with performance guarantees and risk sharing is available under a service offering called Tetra Pak® Advanced Agreements.)
Want to discuss how your cottage cheese operations could be optimised?
