The $11 million dryer facility, primarily funded by Innovation Waikato Ltd, is the Waikato component of the Government-sponsored New Zealand Food Innovation Network. Capacity of the multi-purpose spray dryer is 0.5 tonne/hour.
Construction will be complete in April and the first product run is scheduled for mid-May.
Plant operating manager Dave Shute says they are talking to dairy processors, "following a few strong leads."
The dryer will be attractive to smaller, innovative processors in the speciality milk industry, enabling them to move from innovation to commercialisation, says Shute.
"New Zealand is a major player in supplying milk and food products to the world. And, Asia – particularly China – is an extremely important export market right on our doorstep. The challenge for producers, however, is developing new products that appeal to these consumers.
"The issue is that if you are a smaller player in the specialty milk industry, it's difficult to gain access to a commercial manufacturing facility where you can test a new product and then scale it up to commercial production. The Innovation Park's new dryer gives the innovators in the industry an opportunity they never had before."
The long-term strategy for the plant is to expand the spray dryer's capability to make infant formula, fruit and vegetable juice powders.
Finance for the dryer came from Innovation Waikato Ltd debt and a Government grant of $3.95 million.
The 10.5m high stainless steel dryer, weighing 7.5 tonnes, was lifted into the new pilot plant last month.
Waikato Innovation Park chief executive Derek Fairweather says it is now looking for commitments from companies that want to research and develop new spray dried food products in the pilot plant.
"Our message to the market is we're open for business and we want to help companies create new products and reach new export markets. This dryer facility is a key mechanism for moving the dairy industry from a focus on commodities to value-added production."
Fairweather says there is huge potential for specialty milk producers, in particular.
"This facility will give innovators in the industry the ability to come up with the next speciality milk product – along similar lines as Stolle, A2 and colostrum products. I also expect to see the facility helping create entirely new industries, such as dried sheep milk products.
"This facility creates opportunity for anyone who's ready to scale up a new spray-dried product to commercial production. As our facility gains momentum, the opportunities for product innovation will be that much more possible in smaller dairy companies."
The Dairy Goat Cooperative has already committed to utilising 40% of the plant's capacity. The company's commitment was a critical factor in creating the commercial case, and gaining government funding and approval to build the plant as a true private/public partnership.
The cooperative's chief executive, Dave Stanley, says the dryer facility will help the company bring on extra capacity to meet expansion requirements.
"We're going through a major growth phase at Dairy Goat Cooperative and intend to install a second dryer on our Hamilton processing site within the next few years. Using the new dryer at Waikato Innovation Park to produce our goat milk powders has provided us with the perfect bridge."
