Abstract #180

# 180
From’Innov: A new concept to improve efficiency and sustainability of the cheesemaking process.
J. Chamberland*1, S. Benoit2, M. Harel-Oger1, Y. Pouliot2, R. Jeantet3, G. Garric1, 1INRA, UMR 1253 Science and Technology of Milk and Eggs, Rennes, France, 22STELA Dairy Research Center, Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF), Department of Food Science, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada, 3Agrocampus Ouest, UMR 1253 Science and Technology of Milk and Eggs, Rennes, France.

The From’Innov process was recently proposed to increase cheesemaking control and flexibility while reducing its environmental impact. The process consists in developing cheese aroma and texture apart, thus replacing the traditional ripening process by supplementing a liquid pre-cheese with aromatic matrices fermented by traditional ripening microorganisms. Conceptually, it was hypothesized that it could improve both economic and environmental performances of cheesemaking plants. However, economic balance and electrical energy, natural gas and fresh water consumptions of industrial plants needed to be known to assess the real benefit of this process. Consequently, a process simulation was performed in 3 virtual plants processing 100,000 kg of milk per day. It enabled to compare the From’Innov process to the traditional and the MMV processes (another liquid pre-cheese-based process) for the production of industrial bloomy soft cheeses (Camembert-type), from the milk reception to the end of ripening. Globally, the virtual plants using liquid pre-cheese technologies required more energy and fresh water. However, their specific energy consumption were lower because of their higher cheese yield (20.7% and 18.3% in the From’Innov and the MMV plants, respectively) compared with the traditional process (12.1%). The From’Innov and the MMV plants needed 3.1 ± 0.1 and 3.7 ± 0.1 MJ per kg of cheese, respectively, while 5.2 ± 0.2 MJ per kg of cheese was required in the traditional plant. A similar pattern was observed for the fresh water consumption, where 6.6 ± 0.1, 8.0 ± 0.6 and 10.9 ± 0.8 L were required to produce one kg of cheese in the From’Innov, the MMV and the traditional plants, respectively. Economic balances including costs associated to building construction, industrial equipment or human resources allowed to calculate the margin of the From’Innov process, which was 2.4% and 39.0% higher than that of the MMV and the traditional processes, respectively. Being more profitable and less energy demanding, this From’Innov process should enable to produce a wide variety of cheese on demand, thus contributing to improve the ecoefficiency of the industry.

Key Words: cheese, liquid pre-cheese, efficiency