GEA will build the largest infant formula plant in China for Junlebao Dairy, with commercial production scheduled in the second quarter of 2020.
GEA secured the order from the Shijiazhuang Junlebao Dairy to supply the China’s largest spray dryer for the manufacture of infant milk formula in September 2018.
Junlebao is the largest dairy processing company in the Hebei Province and the fourth largest dairy processing company in China.
The new plant, which is being built adjacent to one completed in 2016, will see GEA supplying wet mixing, evaporation, drying and downstream powder handling. GEA is also responsible for the plant design, project execution, installation & commissioning and automation.
Central to the plant will be the GEA MSD-1600 multi-stage spray dryer, one of the world’s most advanced dryers – combining spray and fluid-bed drying in a three-stage drying process. It has a planned production capacity of 6 tons/hour.
“We’ve worked very closely with Junlebao for years and it has been a real pleasure to see the success the plant we built for the company two years ago has had,” said Leon Han, head of dairy sales in Greater China for GEA.
“The new plant will be the largest of its kind in China and we are delighted to be working with Junlebao again on this exciting project.”
Junlebao said it chose GEA for this major project due to the previous work together in 2016 on a project with a similar scope.
“During the building of the 2016 plant we developed a very strong working relationship with GEA here in China. For this reason, GEA was the chosen partner for the new plant and we’re confident the project will be a success,” a Junlebao Dairy spokesperson said.