500 SLIM brick IPI NKCC Kenya

UHT milk in aseptic carton packaging: the success case of NKCC, leading dairy company in Kenya

New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (NKCC) is a leading Kenyan company operating in the dairy industry.

NKCC has chosen IPI as supplier of its new 500 ml slim packaging for UHT Milk. It is the first installation of its kind in Kenya for the Italian supplier, a leader in packaging of food and beverages in aseptic brick and currently operating in fifty (50) countries.

Read the article to find out how IPI has perfectly responded to customer needs even in a difficult period like that of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NKCC – how to increase the quality of its dairy products

New KCC has decades-long experience in producing a wide range of quality milk and dairy products including fresh and long-life milk, fermented milk, powdered milk, butter, and cheese. All of which have been perfected over time and made to meet the taste and needs of its consumers.

From farm to glass, the African manufacturer has made adherence to the quality of raw materials and its finished products its strong point. New KCC has an extensive agribusiness dairy network in the milk producing regions, linking it directly to its partnering dairy farmers, who enjoy access to a wide range of essential extension services such as quality feeds and Agrovet services, and in return the company receives milk that is high in quality as it is in quantity, while offering competitive prices to both farmers and end consumers alike.

NKCC’s needs in terms of packaging and filling machine

With a growing demand for long-life milk, New KCC in its effort to meet this demand, sought to increase the production capacity and expand the packaging portfolio of its UHT milk. The company installed a new aseptic filling line at its Nyahururu Milk Processing Facility that not only had the production capacity to meet its needs but that was also reliable, easy to use and maintain and characterized by a competitive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

The company was already packing UHT Milk in aseptic bricks, and given the numerous advantages of this type of packaging, the new package would be added to the two (2) already existing 250 ml and 1000 ml. The new Aseptic bricks are comfortable to handle, easy to stock and above all, protect the product at best with no need for a cold chain – just to name but a few of its advantages.

How IPI best responded to customer requests

IPI's responses fully met New KCC’s requests. The Italian company has supplied its customer with an NSA EVO aseptic packaging line for the 500 ml Slim brick, which has been added to the existing UHT milk cartons. The production capacity of the NSA EVO was perfect for the customer.

Furthermore, NSA EVO's TCO is very low. Firstly, the filler requires a minimal initial investment, while maintenance costs and utility consumption are also low, which overall from an economic standpoint, make owning the filling machine very advantageous.

Finally, NSA EVO is ultra-compact and very simple to operate and maintain.

IPI, with over forty years of experience in the packaging of beverages and liquid foods, has supported the customer with excellent Remote Technical Assistance Services.

Despite being unable to travel owing to the travel restrictions brought about by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the IPI technicians backed NKCC from the Italian headquarters, where they remotely managed both the installation of the packaging line and the training of the customer’s line operators with the support of on-site technicians and advanced IPI RTA tools.

500 slim aseptic carton brick IPI NKCC

NKCC: “Everything went great even in time of COVID-19”

According to Mrs. Damaris Cheptoo Chirchir, Chief Manager, Factory Operations of NKCC, “after installation of the 250 ml and 1000 ml brick packs, it was time to complete the category by re-introducing the 500 ml aseptic carton. IPI offered a machine that was the right fit to our requirements in terms of capacity, cost of investment, maintenance and product quality.

The remote technical support offered by the team from Italy broke the barriers brought about by the Covid-19 restrictions thereby ensuring installation and commissioning of the machine during that difficult period.

The technical training offered to our technicians and machine operators was above board such that we are able to confidently run the machine to meet our market requirements.

On the final product, we have not encountered any quality challenge in the products released to the market.”

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