Food & Climate
Dairy and juice plants technologies haven’t changed much over the past decades. However, the process of integrating this industry with equipment and procedures that achieve sustainability has witnessed tremendous developments. These developments have succeeded in reducing the raw materials consumed, which has lowered costs and reduced its negative environmental impact, Synergy Egypt’s co-owner, Engineer Fouad Alkhamy, told “Food & Climate” platform.
Alkhamy’s father started the company’s project in 1992, which implements dairy and juice plants in various factories. His sons continue the industry, according to him on the sidelines of the “Fi Africa & ProPack MENA” exhibitions, which were recently held in Cairo.
Alkhamy said: “We work on dairy production lines and juice equipment. We work on the production line that processes the product itself, whether it’s milk from abroad, which undergoes a processing process until it’s ready for packaging, juice, or various other materials.”
There are a large number of dairy factories in Egypt; It may reach thousands, but its volumes are small. Egypt’s exports of dairy and dairy products reached approximately $100 million in the first half of 2024, and its imports amounted to approximately $368 million. Dairy constitutes 14% of food exports.
Some New Sustainability Technologies in Dairy and Juice plants
Fouad Alkhamy, co-owner of Synergy Egypt, said that dairy and juice plants technologies, as an industry, have not changed much in recent years, but there has been significant development in sustainability processes within the industry.
For example, a new piece of equipment being installed in the production plant performs an automated cleaning process, which speeds up the cleaning process and reduces water waste.
Alkhamy added that the cleaning process is carried out using a mixture of water, soda, and acid in varying proportions to remove fat and juice residue.
This process is repeated after each production cycle. Alkhami continued that among the technologies and equipment that contribute to sustainability in production plants is the unit implemented by Synergy Egypt in collaboration with a French company called Green CIP, which is also being installed in the plant.
He said: “The production plant itself consists of tanks and agitators, and there is a sensor underneath to measure the return from the unit after cleaning. The unit processes the soda used in cleaning and reuses it. The unit can recover at least 20% of the soda used in cleaning.”
Alkhamy explained the importance of conserving soda quantities in dairy and juice plants, saying: “This is important in terms of production costs, especially since soda represents a significant cost component, as it is an imported raw material”.
Another important factor is that its disposal requires treatment, as acids are not released into wastewater without treatment. Egyptian law imposes hefty fines on violators, as these substances destroy the drainage system and cause damage to groundwater, according to Alkhamy.
He said: “These are courses that are handed over to each other. We started this with the French company two years ago. There are other methods in Egypt for sustainability in this activity.”
However, he pointed out that reducing the cost of relying on this unit in the plants depends on the volume of production. “Certainly, the larger the volume, the greater the cost reduction, and the smaller the volume, the lower the need for it. The nature of the raw materials and milk consumed also affects the cost.”
Incentives ensure sustainability
Engineer Fouad Alkhamy, co-owner of Synergy Egypt, believes that the sustainability revolution is present worldwide and is being implemented in Egypt to a limited extent.
However, to ensure the continuity and development of sustainability measures and technologies, officials must create incentives for people, investors, and everyone involved in this process.
He said: “This matter will not expand without incentives. I don’t mean carbon certificates and their sale, because they are not related to our activity, but rather to the factory that succeeds in reducing emissions”.
He continued: “What I mean is incentives in financing projects that will follow certain environmental standards, and this is happening abroad. A product doesn’t comply with environmental standards unless it has an incentive. Even at the individual level, they won’t do anything that protects the environment without an incentive.”
For example, people now buy electric cars because they cost less than gasoline.
He explained that commitment to environmental protection abroad comes from providing incentives.
Like a few others, Alkhamy believes that “climate change happens cyclically, has little to do with what we do, and will happen anyway. What we do only accelerates climate change, so instead of happening every 100 years, it will happen every 50 years”.
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