Customer story
Zuivelhoeve: “The new tanks are an important step in supporting our growth”
Gpi Tanks Poland has delivered seven stainless steel tanks as part of a modernization project aimed at making the Zuivelhoeve plant future-proof. The project focuses both on product quality and enabling the company's planned growth.
Zuivelhoeve is a Dutch family-owned company from Twekkelo, renowned for 45 years for its authentic dairy products. With a passion for quality and craftsmanship, Zuivelhoeve produces custard (vla), yogurt, and other desserts for retail, foodservice, and various channels within the food industry. To prepare its factory for the future, Zuivelhoeve has made a significant investment in a new production area, equipped with stainless steel tanks from Gpi. These tanks play a crucial role in ensuring that Zuivelhoeve can continue to meet growing demand and maintain the high-quality standards of the dairy industry in the coming years.
Alfons Schuurmans, Manager of Technology and Projects at Zuivelhoeve, explains the motivation behind the project: “Due to the acquisition of the conventional dairy products from Boermarke, we needed to expand our production capacity while simultaneously adapting our production methods and principles to current and future standards. The tank design and use of water-saving nozzles for CIP cleaning are good examples of this. With the seven new stainless steel tanks from Gpi, we can not only handle the increased production volume, but also better respond to the growing market demand and the high quality requirements we set for ourselves.”
Choosing Gpi
Regarding the selection of Gpi, Alfons says: “Gpi came into view when we started this project two years ago. We issued a tender to several tank builders, but ultimately chose Gpi. As a reputable tank manufacturer, they convinced us with their professionalism and expertise. Together with our engineering department, we carefully looked for the right balance between quality, design and price, and their extensive experience in the dairy industry gave us additional confidence.”
The assignment
For this project, Gpi Tanks Poland handled the engineering and manufacturing of seven stainless steel tanks. These tanks are part of Zuivelhoeve’s new “Vlalokaal,” an expanded production area focused on producing and innovating various custard (vla) varieties.
For these tanks, the product infeed (milk, mix or custard) was positioned at the bottom of the tank. This setup contributes to more consistent product quality and ensures optimal cleaning of the necessary valves in the product lines.
Production, transport, and installation
The tanks were designed and manufactured by Gpi Tanks Poland, and then transported in two phases by truck to Zuivelhoeve’s site. Prior to delivery, the Zuivelhoeve team visited the production facility in Poland. The project team noted, “It is a beautiful, nearly new factory with a professional appearance, where the processes are well managed.”
The installation was carried out by Gpi Tanks Netherlands. This was a challenging task, as the tanks had to be lifted through the roof before they could be placed in the Vlalokaal. Zuivelhoeve looks back on the collaboration with satisfaction: “The delivery and installation of the tanks were handled well by the Gpi team, with almost everything running smoothly and as expected.”
Collaboration
Zuivelhoeve looks back on the collaboration with Gpi with satisfaction. This is despite the fact that, in the early phase, “communication was at times somewhat difficult due to mixed communication with both Gpi Netherlands and Poland.” In the end, everything was resolved and handled properly, and Zuivelhoeve is pleased with “the final result and the quality of the tanks.”
The result
With the delivery of the seven stainless steel tanks, an important step has been taken towards making the Zuivelhoeve factory “future-proof.” While the storage and ultraclean tanks have already been put into production, work is now underway to also get the mix tanks operational. “With the delivery of the tanks, Zuivelhoeve has taken the first steps to upgrade the factory to the latest standards and therefore make it future-proof. This now allows us to fully focus on our plans for the future.”
