Economic aspects of cheese making as influenced by whey processing options

Economic consequences of the cheese making process are illustrated through several sample calculations concerning processing of whey in relation to cheese making throughput and several whey processing alternatives. Small cheese plants with daily milk throughput of approximately 100 000 kg cannot economically justify the capital for water removal equipment. For small plants that have to convert whey to a dry product, alternatives include pre-concentrating with a reverse osmosis unit or a small plate evaporator and drying on a double roller dryer. The economics are evaluated at several price levels. At the upper scale of cheese plant size (2-3 million kg d−1 of milk), the investment for whey processing is about half the total investment. Cash flows are calculated for electricity, natural gas and whey powder prices. Increased investment for further processing into whey protein concentrate and dried whey solubles or lactose is evaluated at several price levels.