Cheese Factory Layout

[Colm]

Hi all,

I am planning on building a small production unit here in Ireland. At the moment I have an office job where I am working 3.5 days a week and have been making and selling a camembert variety for about a year while renting a commercial kitchen. Although small scale, sales have been good and I've decided t take the big leap and after building I will quit my job. I have a site and am ready to go.

Initially I was planning on buying a turnkey solution from Plevnik (SNK500) and may still. They are essentially converted shipping containers. The brochure is here under complete dairy solution https://www.plevnik.eu/brochures/

My local health inspector has said that I will need a washroom and separate entry and exit and I have attached a very rough sketch. Does anyone have any thoughts? I have included a second cold room as I hope to also make a blue cheese but I am wary of cross contamination even with separate ripening rooms.

Any thoughts would be most welcome.

Thanks
C

[Bantams]

We built our own microdairy just a few years ago out of an old mobile office trailer. I have a few thoughts - but I know our regulations are different and was wondering if you know which rooms are mandatory per regulations? (As in, can storage, office, and packaging be combined into one room?)

[Bantams]

What volume are you thinking of producing? (Gallons per day or similar)

[Colm]

We built our own microdairy just a few years ago out of an old mobile office trailer. I have a few thoughts - but I know our regulations are different and was wondering if you know which rooms are mandatory per regulations? (As in, can storage, office, and packaging be combined into one room?)

Thanks for that. To be honest, I feel it may be too big for me now. The health inspector has said the bathroom is mandatory with no direct door into the production area. She also said that there should be a separate entrance and exit that does not lead directly into the production area and this is the reason I have separated the office to one side and the shipping/packaging etc to the other as it seems to me to give a better flow.

[Colm]

What volume are you thinking of producing? (Gallons per day or similar)

Initially I am hoping to produce around 15 gallons per day and increase on a gradual basis over time. As mentioned above, I think the unit is too big for me and I may have to scale back but on the other hand I would like to think I can grow into it.

[Bantams]

That scale is very relatable to me as we work with about 15-20 gallons a day.  I previously worked at a farmstead operation that primarily makes camembert-style, with about 33 gallons per day.

I think you can do everything with less space.   To put it in perspective, 33 gallons makes 100 wheels of cam (each day). Days 1 and 2 are spent draining/salting, then about in a week in a mid-temp fridge until fully bloomed.  Then they are wrapped and placed in a secondary fridge for another 3-5 weeks until ready for sale.  If you have two standard commercial True fridges (single door), you can accommodate a full week's production in the blooming phase (use speed racks and full sheet trays, that's ~700 wheels). Then another 2-3 fridges to accommodate all the aging wrapped wheels. 

Not having a walk-in aging space really limits the amount of contamination that can happen and you really don't need a separate space for aging - the fridges can all be in the production room, or the first fridges in the production room and the others in the office/shipping room.  Because the cheeses are wrapped during the production phase you don't need a separate wrapping room, just a work table in the production room.

Make sure your wash sink/dishwasher/etc is all in the production room as you will be going back and forth constantly.

I think you should consider a simpler layout:
Entryway/office/dry storage --> restroom
Entryway/office/dry storage --> production room --> extra aging space for future blues/hard wheels

You'll always find things that you wished you had done differently after using the space for a while - having larger spaces allows for more flexibility in the long run.

[Colm]

Thanks for that. I really appreciate the great advice.

I agree that a much smaller space would be more appropriate to the scale I'm producing and the cost price may in any case force me to reduce the size. From talking to other food producers (not cheese), they all seemed to be of the opinion that building big in the beginning is a lot cheaper  long term than building small and expanding later. I suppose this is in my mind, whether to build a unit small enough for me to produce now or whether to go with a larger model and grow into it.

Can I ask you about the True fridges? I am currently using dual temp wine fridges and I find it difficult to get a consistent distribution of air flow, temp and humidity. This is the reason I have been planning and dreaming about proper cold/ripening rooms but at the same time I have also been worried about the chances of contamination, Do you have any difficulties with the True fridges? From a quick look, I've only seen True fridges with a temp range of 33 to 38F.

In any case, fantastic advice and I'm going back to the drawing board now. Thanks again

[Bantams]

I didn't necessarily mean smaller overall, just fewer/larger rooms. I've found that it's easier to fit fridges, move equipment around, change the flow of operations, etc, if the space is less divided.
For reference, our production room is about 200 sq ft (plus a small entryway, a milkhouse (for the bulk tank and milking equipment wash sink) and a cheese "cave"). Everything is on a 10x40' trailer. The milking parlor is separate.
The two former places that I worked at were probably 250 and 400 sq ft.

The True fridges are controlled by an external thermostat. You can easily set it at 45° or whatever is needed and it will hold it there flawlessly. You shouldn't have moisture issues because they have fans and enough space to allow for good air/temp circulation.  There are loads of options on Amazon/etc.

[Logmax]

There are 100 practical questions for site planning... There your layout have many mistakes (imho). You need any consultant-practic...

[Colm]

I didn't necessarily mean smaller overall, just fewer/larger rooms. I've found that it's easier to fit fridges, move equipment around, change the flow of operations, etc, if the space is less divided.
For reference, our production room is about 200 sq ft (plus a small entryway, a milkhouse (for the bulk tank and milking equipment wash sink) and a cheese "cave"). Everything is on a 10x40' trailer. The milking parlor is separate.
The two former places that I worked at were probably 250 and 400 sq ft.

The True fridges are controlled by an external thermostat. You can easily set it at 45° or whatever is needed and it will hold it there flawlessly. You shouldn't have moisture issues because they have fans and enough space to allow for good air/temp circulation.  There are loads of options on Amazon/etc.

Thanks for that. You've been very helpful.

[Colm]

There are 100 practical questions for site planning... There your layout have many mistakes (imho). You need any consultant-practic...

Thanks. Out of interest any glaring errors that stand out?