The Pladot Option - New Equipment for Mini-Dairies
by Vicki Dunaway

Willis, Virginia

By now, many SGF readers who have looked into on-farm dairy processing have run across Pladot. (It is pronounced playdote, rather than play-dough, the word is not French, though It looks like It.) Pladot Is an Israeli company that has taken on the awesome task of manufacturing small-scale equipment for dairy processing, assuming a risk that apparently no USA manufacturer is willing to take except on a custom basis. At first Pladot produced equipment for people in their own country, but then realized there might be a market elsewhere, particularly in the USA, where the resurgence of interest in dairy value-adding has resulted in incredible frustration at the lack of appropriate scale equipment.

Pladot generally does not sell individual pieces of equipment. Instead, they offer turnkey "mini-dairies" built specifically for an individual customer's situation. I've had the opportunity to see five Installed Pladot systems.

The smallest is a tiny plant on a Pennsylvania Amish farm for making yogurt and soft cheeses from the farmer's Jersey milk. The largest, Brown Cow Country Market in Brogue, PA, produces a wide array of products for a dairy store located in a high-traffic tourist area.

Another one. Susquehanna Mini Dairy In nearby Quarryville, produces yogurt from the milk of a cooperative of Amish dairy farms. The other two plants have new farmstead dairy stores in Virginia, and both produce a variety of dairy products.

The startup costs of these plants ranged from about $90,000 to about half a million dollars, not including the buildings to house them. Some pieces of equipment. such as bulk storage tanks and bottle washers, are bought locally.

Standard Pladot Mini-Dairies are designed to process between 2000 and 20,000 pounds of milk per day, so on the outside we're talking about the production of maybe 300 average Holsteins. The Pladot FAQ sheet states that "anyone producing 1000 liters (2000 pounds) per day (or more) can profit." The plants are modular and can be added to if necessary, but I know of one dairy cooperative in Pennsylvania that has outgrown the largest Pladot setup within a couple of years, though it was a good way for them to get started.

In order to meet American standards, Pladot flew American engineers to Israel to assist with modifying the design of their equipment. The company also makes whatever changes are needed to their equipment once it is operating in the plant. Pladot equipment is built to ISO 9002, CE and 3-A Standards. fulfilling all requirements of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO).

There Is a one-year warranty on equipment, a long-term warranty on parts and contracts with local service providers for repairs.  As part of their package, Pladot’s personnel determine all equipment, building, electrical, water and other needs, based on what the producer wants to sell.

Once the building is ready, Pladot ships the equipment from Israel and sends a "technical team” to install It. A food technologist is then dispatched to the site to help the owners/operators get the plant up and running.

Pladot has specifically designed Its Mini-Dairy to provide for niche markets, rather than for competition with large processors. On one of his visits to the US I had the pleasure of meeting Rafi Shamir, Vice President of marketing for Pladot, who impressed me with his concern for his potential customer’s market. Pladot contends that the most Important secret to success is the market and anyone interested in purchasing a Pladot system must work up a business plan that shows the plant has a good chance of success.

When I visited Homestead Dairy in Burnt Chimney. VA, I learned that the owners had decided to market. within a 50-mile radius of their plant, determining the population within that radius and estimating that they could be successful with 3% of the market. Their Pladot local service agency assisted with determining market strategy, as well as finding sources for supplies, containers, a labeling machine, etc.

Suggested niche markets (from the Pladot FAQ sheet) are: delicatessens, farmers' markets, farm stands, mail orders and home deliveries, as well as ethnic and organic markets. Three of the Pladot facilities I've seen include dairy stores on or near the producing farm.

While home delivery is an option, it requires serious deliberation and planning, particularly in these days of rising fuel prices and working moms. Both of the Virginia plants offer their products through local convenience stores.

Many farmers interested in producing value-added products wonder how they would learn to make the products. Pladot offers optional training at their Israel facility, and also trains processors in their own plants. Courses are offered in English and Spanish, and other languages can be accommodated with the aid of a translator.

The course covers every step of the production process, and plant personnel are also trained in routine equipment maintenance. Apparently, except for producing hard cheeses, the "how-to" Is not really a problem.

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