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Iowa's American-Type Cheese Plant Starter Culture Costs
OUR INDUSTRY TODAY Iowa's American-Type Cheese Plant Starter Culture Costs W. S. LaGRANGE Department of Food Technology Iowa State University Ames 50011 ABSTRACT
A survey of 10 dairy plants in Iowa manufacturing American-type cheese revealed that costs for starter culture programs ranged from $24.58 to $475.27/d. Labor costs for the starter portion of cheese making ranged from $2.50 to $85.60/d. Material costs ranged from $21.63 to $396.14/d. Equipment costs ranged from 0, where equipment had been depreciated, to $54.79/d. Material cost was the largest percentage of the total cost, ranging from 64.5 to 98.5%. Media costs, as a percent of the material costs, varied from 0 for the direct vat set system to 87% for bulk set. Starter costs per 45.36 kg of milk made into cheese ranged from 13.66¢ for direct vat set systems to 3.47 to 6.09¢ for external pH control systems used b y the 4 largest milk plants. Starter costs for all plants, regardless of the system, were a small portion o f the total cost of changing milk into cheese. INTRODUCTION
In 1967 a survey was conducted among 24 dairy plants in Iowa manufacturing Americantype cheese to determine the starter culture costs of these plants (2). A t that time there were plants that carried one or two cultures for several years and claimed few starter problems. Others were beginning to use a dozen culture strains in a rotation pattern. Phage-inhibit o r y media were fairly new in the dairy industry and were used in 10 of 24 plants and cost an additional 10 to 15¢/Ib more than the low heat powder that cost 20 to 25¢. Freeze-dried and liquid nitrogen frozen cultures were fairly new systems. The 24 plants ranged in milk volume
Received September 3, 1985.
Accepted September 8, 1986. 1987 J Dairy Sci 70:367--372
367
from 4535.9 to 108,861.6 kg o f milk manufactured into cheese each day. Eighteen years later there were 10 plants in Iowa manufacturing American-type cheese with milk volume capacities of 18,000 to 900,000 lb (8164.6 to 408,231 kg). Five hundred-pound (226.8-kg) barrels and 640-1b (290.3-kg)blocks were now the rule. A few plants make 40-1b (18.14-kg) blocks and horns. Some plants use phage-inhibitory media and bacteria growthstimulating media. Others use buffered media with either ammonia added as needed to the medium and growing culture or pH buffering chemicals in the starter medium. Some plants use frozen concentrated cultures added directly to the milk. Others add bulk starter with a different culture strain used each day. Some use a bulk starter that has been pH buffered and contains two or six starter strains. With so many changes and variations in starter programs, it is interesting to study once again the costs involved in starter culture programs in Iowa's American-type cheese plants. The cost o f the plants' starter program per 100 Ib (45.36 kg) milk processed and per pound (.454 kg) of cheese were determined for each plant. RESULTS A N D DISCUSSION
Table 1 summarizes the 10 plants' production volumes. Cheese was made either 5, 6, or 7 d/wk. Milk volumes processed into cheese varied from 18,000 to 900,000 ib (8164.6 to 408,231 kg)/d. Cheese yields reported b y the respective plant managers were monthly or yearly averages. Pounds o f cheese made per day equals the pounds of milk processed per day times the cheese yield. Three types of American cheese were manufactured. Table 2 presents important specifics about the starter programs at 10 plants. Two plants used direct vat set (DVS) starters only. Three plants used a combination o f DVS and bulk culture systems. Five plants used only bulk set.
368
LaGRANGE
TABLE 1. Cheese plant production and yield data.
Plant
Make schedule
Milk1 processed per day
(d/wk)
Cheese2 yield (%)
1
6
18.0
10.0 10.5 10.9
2
6
72.0
3
6
99.2
9.7
4
5
108.0
5
6
216.7
6 7 8 9 10
6 5 6 7 7
243.0 360.0 575.0 650.0 900.0
10.9 9.7 10.3 10.3 10.0 10.5 9.9
Cheese per day 3
Cheese variety
(lb) 1800 1890 7895 9622 11,772 21,020 25,029 37,080 57,500 68,250 89,100
Cheddar Colby Colby Stirred curd Colby Stirred curd Stirred curd Colby, stirred curd Cheddar Cheddar Stirred curd
1Expressed as thousands of pounds. 2Calculated by plant manager. 3Daily milk intake multiplied by percent yield of cheese.
Four plants used external pH control combined usually with a bouquet of two or more starter strains with weekly whey testing for phage. One plant used an internal pH-controlled culture medium: Phase 4 (1). Table 3 summarizes the costs each plant incurred in its starter programs. Labor costs per day for making starter ranged from $2.50 for plant 1 to $85.60 for plant 9. Plant managers specified wage rates and benefits as well as hours spent each day to make starter. Materials costs, including culture, media, ammonia, and cleaning supplies totaled from $21.63 for plant 1 to $396.14/d for plant 10. The cost of equipment involved in the starter programs was based on a 5-yr depreciation schedule. Most plants had depreciated much of their starter equipment. At the time of this survey, equipment cost was insignificant. For comparison, I calculated the total cost of a new starter room and new starter making equipment using a 7-yr depreciation schedule, which would be needed for a plant processing 1 million lb (453,590 kg) of milk/d, 7 d/wk into cheese with 9.9% yield. Using external pH control media, costs for starter equipment and the starter room would total $119,170. Starter costs would be $526.64/d. This estimate can be compared with the total costs shown in column 5 of Table 3, which varied between $24.58 and $475.27/d. Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 70, No. 2, 1987
Table 4 summarizes the percentage of the total cost for the three main factors of labor, materials, and equipment. Also shown are the data on starter costs per 100 lb (45.46 kg) of milk made into cheese and per pound of cheese manufactured. Labor costs varied from .96 to 21.62% of the total cost of the plant's starter program. Material costs dominated the total cost of the starter program in all 10 plants. As was seen in the study conducted 18 yr ago (1), material costs were the primary cost items of the starter program. Equipment costs were a small portion of total cost even for the large volume plants. The same was true for the theoretical 1 millionlb (453,590-kg) plant with 8.86% of the total cost as equipment cost. Material costs represented the largest portion of the total cost for the starter program, and the cost of the culture and media made up the major portion of the material costs. Plants 1 and 5 used only DVS cultures; thus, their culture cost represented 100% of material costs. Plants using only bulk set starter had culture costs of 25.06 to 9.72% of material costs. Media costs ranged from 0 to 87.08% of the material costs and were the major cost unless DVS cuhures were used. Starter costs are summarized in Table 4. Starter cost/100 ib (45.36 kg) milk ranged from 3.47¢ for plant 7 with an external pH starter
00
O
Z
-q O
< o
o
BS
BS
BS
7
8
9
4 Whey phage analysis weekly.
s Every other day.
2 Bulk set.
DVS DVS + BS
5 6
1 Direct vat set.
BS
4
BS
BS + DVS
3
10
DVS 1 DVS + BS 2
1 2
Plant
Culture type
TABLE 2. Starter culture specifications.
2
20
6
6
14 7
3
6
2 14
Number cultures in use
04
Daily
04
04
Daily EOD s
0
Daily
Biweekly Daily
Frequency of culture rotation
7
7
6
5
6 6
5
6
6 6
Cheese made (d/wk) -
7
7
3
4
0 3
5
6
0 1-2
-
Bulk starter made
3 DVS/18,000# milk 5DVS+5gal. BS/36,000# milk 1 DVS/week when BS slow Phase 4 3 strain bouquet 6 DVS/35,000# milk BS(120 lb) + 2 DVS/vat External pH, 6 strain b o u q u e t External pH, 6 strain bouquet External pH, 1 strain/day External pH, 2 strains
Related information
,,o
©
0
oo ...i
,g
z
,¢ o
,q
o
e':
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2.50 5.42 10.50 7.20 2.83 10.00 9.00 40.00 85.60 72.00
Labor
s Five-year depreciation for pH controls.
2 Five-year depreciation for pH controls and ammonia pump.
1 Depreciated.
Plant
TABLE 3. Costs of starter making, part 1.
. . ,I
. . .1 1.60 ...1 5.362 18.30 54.79 a 7.13 s
.45 ...1
75.67
(S/d)
Equipment
119.71 289.60 212.17 110.40 190.25 255.45 396.14
21.63 82.90
Materials
Costs for starter
24,58 87.32 86.17 126.91 294.03 222.17 124.76 248.55 395.84 475.27
Total cost
Z
0
OUR INDUSTRY TODAY
v
~8
371
culture system to 13.66¢ for plant 1, the smallest volume plant using DVS cultures. The two plants using only DVS cultures had the highest cost per 100 lb of milk processed at 13.57 and 13.66¢. The next highest were those using both bulk set and DVS and the one plant using internal pH-controlled medium. Costs were lowest at plants with external pH control systems; these plants were also the largest cheese manufacturing plants. These plants also reported having to use much less bulk starter per 100 lb of milk processed into cheese. For the theoretical processing system for cheese, cost of starter per 100 It) of milk processed was 5.27¢, or .53¢ per pound of cheese made. Even with new equipment and starter room, a large volume plant using external pH control culture system would experience starter costs similar to plants in which the equipment had depreciated. This is because the primary costs relate to materials, and more specifically, to the costs of media. SUMMARY
e~
8
After comparison of starter costs based both on cost per 100 lb of milk processed and cost per pound of cheese made, the most expensive method was DVS. The least expensive was external pH control systems. In between these systems are the bulk set, combined with and without an occasional DVS added to the vat of milk as deemed necessary. Although the starter system used in each plant is influenced by factors such as preference, convenience, and historical use, this survey highlighted definite cost benefits associated with external pH control systems. In addition, previous studies have brought out the beneficial effects of this system in improving cheese quality (3, 5). The financial benefits of this quality improvement have been documented (4). REFERENCES
r)0 4
1 Hermelstein, N. H. 1982. Advanced bulk starter medium improves fermentation processes. Food Technol. 36(8):69. 2 LaGrange, W. S., and G. W. Reinbold. 1968. Starter culture costs in lowa Cheddar cheese plants. J. Dairy Sci. 51:1985. 3 Richardson, G. H., G. L. Hong, and C. A. Ernsrrom. 1980. Defined single strains of lactic streptococci in bulk culture for Cheddar and Monterey cheese Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 70, No. 2, 1987
372
LaGRANGE
manufacture. J. Dairy Sci. 63:1981. 4 Thunell, R. K., F. W. Bodyfelt, and W. E. Sandine. 1984. Economic comparisons of Cheddar cheese manufactured with defined-strain and commercial
Journal of Dairy Science Vot. 70, No. 2, 1987
mixed-strain cultures. J. Dairy Sci. 67:1061. 5 Thunell, R. K., W. E. Sandine, and F. W. Bodyfelt. 1981. Phage-insensitive, multiple-strain approaches to Cheddar cheese making. J. Dairy Sci. 64:2270.
A survey of 10 dairy plants in Iowa manufacturing American-type cheese revealed that costs for starter culture programs ranged from $24.58 to $475.27/d. Labor costs for the starter portion of cheese making ranged from $2.50 to $85.60/d. Material costs ranged from $21.63 to $396.14/d. Equipment costs ranged from 0, where equipment had been depreciated, to $54.79/d. Material cost was the largest percentage of the total cost, ranging from 64.5 to 98.5%. Media costs, as a percent of the material costs, varied from 0 for the direct vat set system to 87% for bulk set. Starter costs per 45.36 kg of milk made into cheese ranged from 13.66¢ for direct vat set systems to 3.47 to 6.09¢ for external pH control systems used b y the 4 largest milk plants. Starter costs for all plants, regardless of the system, were a small portion o f the total cost of changing milk into cheese. INTRODUCTION
In 1967 a survey was conducted among 24 dairy plants in Iowa manufacturing Americantype cheese to determine the starter culture costs of these plants (2). A t that time there were plants that carried one or two cultures for several years and claimed few starter problems. Others were beginning to use a dozen culture strains in a rotation pattern. Phage-inhibit o r y media were fairly new in the dairy industry and were used in 10 of 24 plants and cost an additional 10 to 15¢/Ib more than the low heat powder that cost 20 to 25¢. Freeze-dried and liquid nitrogen frozen cultures were fairly new systems. The 24 plants ranged in milk volume
Received September 3, 1985.
Accepted September 8, 1986. 1987 J Dairy Sci 70:367--372
367
from 4535.9 to 108,861.6 kg o f milk manufactured into cheese each day. Eighteen years later there were 10 plants in Iowa manufacturing American-type cheese with milk volume capacities of 18,000 to 900,000 lb (8164.6 to 408,231 kg). Five hundred-pound (226.8-kg) barrels and 640-1b (290.3-kg)blocks were now the rule. A few plants make 40-1b (18.14-kg) blocks and horns. Some plants use phage-inhibitory media and bacteria growthstimulating media. Others use buffered media with either ammonia added as needed to the medium and growing culture or pH buffering chemicals in the starter medium. Some plants use frozen concentrated cultures added directly to the milk. Others add bulk starter with a different culture strain used each day. Some use a bulk starter that has been pH buffered and contains two or six starter strains. With so many changes and variations in starter programs, it is interesting to study once again the costs involved in starter culture programs in Iowa's American-type cheese plants. The cost o f the plants' starter program per 100 Ib (45.36 kg) milk processed and per pound (.454 kg) of cheese were determined for each plant. RESULTS A N D DISCUSSION
Table 1 summarizes the 10 plants' production volumes. Cheese was made either 5, 6, or 7 d/wk. Milk volumes processed into cheese varied from 18,000 to 900,000 ib (8164.6 to 408,231 kg)/d. Cheese yields reported b y the respective plant managers were monthly or yearly averages. Pounds o f cheese made per day equals the pounds of milk processed per day times the cheese yield. Three types of American cheese were manufactured. Table 2 presents important specifics about the starter programs at 10 plants. Two plants used direct vat set (DVS) starters only. Three plants used a combination o f DVS and bulk culture systems. Five plants used only bulk set.
368
LaGRANGE
TABLE 1. Cheese plant production and yield data.
Plant
Make schedule
Milk1 processed per day
(d/wk)
Cheese2 yield (%)
1
6
18.0
10.0 10.5 10.9
2
6
72.0
3
6
99.2
9.7
4
5
108.0
5
6
216.7
6 7 8 9 10
6 5 6 7 7
243.0 360.0 575.0 650.0 900.0
10.9 9.7 10.3 10.3 10.0 10.5 9.9
Cheese per day 3
Cheese variety
(lb) 1800 1890 7895 9622 11,772 21,020 25,029 37,080 57,500 68,250 89,100
Cheddar Colby Colby Stirred curd Colby Stirred curd Stirred curd Colby, stirred curd Cheddar Cheddar Stirred curd
1Expressed as thousands of pounds. 2Calculated by plant manager. 3Daily milk intake multiplied by percent yield of cheese.
Four plants used external pH control combined usually with a bouquet of two or more starter strains with weekly whey testing for phage. One plant used an internal pH-controlled culture medium: Phase 4 (1). Table 3 summarizes the costs each plant incurred in its starter programs. Labor costs per day for making starter ranged from $2.50 for plant 1 to $85.60 for plant 9. Plant managers specified wage rates and benefits as well as hours spent each day to make starter. Materials costs, including culture, media, ammonia, and cleaning supplies totaled from $21.63 for plant 1 to $396.14/d for plant 10. The cost of equipment involved in the starter programs was based on a 5-yr depreciation schedule. Most plants had depreciated much of their starter equipment. At the time of this survey, equipment cost was insignificant. For comparison, I calculated the total cost of a new starter room and new starter making equipment using a 7-yr depreciation schedule, which would be needed for a plant processing 1 million lb (453,590 kg) of milk/d, 7 d/wk into cheese with 9.9% yield. Using external pH control media, costs for starter equipment and the starter room would total $119,170. Starter costs would be $526.64/d. This estimate can be compared with the total costs shown in column 5 of Table 3, which varied between $24.58 and $475.27/d. Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 70, No. 2, 1987
Table 4 summarizes the percentage of the total cost for the three main factors of labor, materials, and equipment. Also shown are the data on starter costs per 100 lb (45.46 kg) of milk made into cheese and per pound of cheese manufactured. Labor costs varied from .96 to 21.62% of the total cost of the plant's starter program. Material costs dominated the total cost of the starter program in all 10 plants. As was seen in the study conducted 18 yr ago (1), material costs were the primary cost items of the starter program. Equipment costs were a small portion of total cost even for the large volume plants. The same was true for the theoretical 1 millionlb (453,590-kg) plant with 8.86% of the total cost as equipment cost. Material costs represented the largest portion of the total cost for the starter program, and the cost of the culture and media made up the major portion of the material costs. Plants 1 and 5 used only DVS cultures; thus, their culture cost represented 100% of material costs. Plants using only bulk set starter had culture costs of 25.06 to 9.72% of material costs. Media costs ranged from 0 to 87.08% of the material costs and were the major cost unless DVS cuhures were used. Starter costs are summarized in Table 4. Starter cost/100 ib (45.36 kg) milk ranged from 3.47¢ for plant 7 with an external pH starter
00
O
Z
-q O
< o
o
BS
BS
BS
7
8
9
4 Whey phage analysis weekly.
s Every other day.
2 Bulk set.
DVS DVS + BS
5 6
1 Direct vat set.
BS
4
BS
BS + DVS
3
10
DVS 1 DVS + BS 2
1 2
Plant
Culture type
TABLE 2. Starter culture specifications.
2
20
6
6
14 7
3
6
2 14
Number cultures in use
04
Daily
04
04
Daily EOD s
0
Daily
Biweekly Daily
Frequency of culture rotation
7
7
6
5
6 6
5
6
6 6
Cheese made (d/wk) -
7
7
3
4
0 3
5
6
0 1-2
-
Bulk starter made
3 DVS/18,000# milk 5DVS+5gal. BS/36,000# milk 1 DVS/week when BS slow Phase 4 3 strain bouquet 6 DVS/35,000# milk BS(120 lb) + 2 DVS/vat External pH, 6 strain b o u q u e t External pH, 6 strain bouquet External pH, 1 strain/day External pH, 2 strains
Related information
,,o
©
0
oo ...i
,g
z
,¢ o
,q
o
e':
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2.50 5.42 10.50 7.20 2.83 10.00 9.00 40.00 85.60 72.00
Labor
s Five-year depreciation for pH controls.
2 Five-year depreciation for pH controls and ammonia pump.
1 Depreciated.
Plant
TABLE 3. Costs of starter making, part 1.
. . ,I
. . .1 1.60 ...1 5.362 18.30 54.79 a 7.13 s
.45 ...1
75.67
(S/d)
Equipment
119.71 289.60 212.17 110.40 190.25 255.45 396.14
21.63 82.90
Materials
Costs for starter
24,58 87.32 86.17 126.91 294.03 222.17 124.76 248.55 395.84 475.27
Total cost
Z
0
OUR INDUSTRY TODAY
v
~8
371
culture system to 13.66¢ for plant 1, the smallest volume plant using DVS cultures. The two plants using only DVS cultures had the highest cost per 100 lb of milk processed at 13.57 and 13.66¢. The next highest were those using both bulk set and DVS and the one plant using internal pH-controlled medium. Costs were lowest at plants with external pH control systems; these plants were also the largest cheese manufacturing plants. These plants also reported having to use much less bulk starter per 100 lb of milk processed into cheese. For the theoretical processing system for cheese, cost of starter per 100 It) of milk processed was 5.27¢, or .53¢ per pound of cheese made. Even with new equipment and starter room, a large volume plant using external pH control culture system would experience starter costs similar to plants in which the equipment had depreciated. This is because the primary costs relate to materials, and more specifically, to the costs of media. SUMMARY
e~
8
After comparison of starter costs based both on cost per 100 lb of milk processed and cost per pound of cheese made, the most expensive method was DVS. The least expensive was external pH control systems. In between these systems are the bulk set, combined with and without an occasional DVS added to the vat of milk as deemed necessary. Although the starter system used in each plant is influenced by factors such as preference, convenience, and historical use, this survey highlighted definite cost benefits associated with external pH control systems. In addition, previous studies have brought out the beneficial effects of this system in improving cheese quality (3, 5). The financial benefits of this quality improvement have been documented (4). REFERENCES
r)0 4
1 Hermelstein, N. H. 1982. Advanced bulk starter medium improves fermentation processes. Food Technol. 36(8):69. 2 LaGrange, W. S., and G. W. Reinbold. 1968. Starter culture costs in lowa Cheddar cheese plants. J. Dairy Sci. 51:1985. 3 Richardson, G. H., G. L. Hong, and C. A. Ernsrrom. 1980. Defined single strains of lactic streptococci in bulk culture for Cheddar and Monterey cheese Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 70, No. 2, 1987
372
LaGRANGE
manufacture. J. Dairy Sci. 63:1981. 4 Thunell, R. K., F. W. Bodyfelt, and W. E. Sandine. 1984. Economic comparisons of Cheddar cheese manufactured with defined-strain and commercial
Journal of Dairy Science Vot. 70, No. 2, 1987
mixed-strain cultures. J. Dairy Sci. 67:1061. 5 Thunell, R. K., W. E. Sandine, and F. W. Bodyfelt. 1981. Phage-insensitive, multiple-strain approaches to Cheddar cheese making. J. Dairy Sci. 64:2270.