In the early
1970s, Britain was about to join the EEC and New Zealand's dairy
industry was desperate for new markets and new products. They were
found, partly thanks to a group of talented young technologists,
scientists and marketers, a multi-national beverage company and a
transformational new technology called ultrafiltration.
At the time, casein products were
seen as an important part of the diversification push, But there was
a problem: how to deal with the potentially polluting whey byproduct
from large new casein plants?
One answer came through
ultrafiltration, a technique that enabled the production of whey
protein concentrates. They could be tailored as specialised food
ingredients and were so valuable that processing highly dilute whey
became profitable. These concentrates, along with other whey
products, are now an established industry and almost no whey is
wasted. It is New Zealand's biggest waste to riches story.
Whey to Go is the story of
the early decades of development, written by several of the
pioneers: Ken Kirkpatrick, Kevin Marshall, Dave Woodhams, Mike
Matthews, Peter Hobman, Lee Huffman, Jim Harper, Robin Fenwick,
Arthur Wilson.
• softcover
• 263 pages • 126
photos, maps and diagrams
• index
Richard Archer in
Engineering Insight:
• A rare book, an
autobiography of an industry.
• It spans the people, the business, the process technology and the
food science; the ups and downs.
• A deft editorial touch makes the book coherent yet faithful to the
voice of
each chapter author.
• ...allows room for the technical detail for those who want it.
• I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the New
Zealand
dairy industry, to all students of innovation in manufacturing and
to New Zealanders
seeking something more to take pride in.
Ken Burgess and Julian Price in
International Journal of Dairy Technology:
• ...by no means a
standard textbook, but it is a thoroughly good read and holds many
more pertinent lessons than most conventional publications.
• This book manages to inform on the dairy science and technology of
whey protein concentrate development at the same time as bringing
out many of the human stories of creativity, imagination,
determination and persistence that were needed for the project to
succeed as it did.
• The particular set of circumstances of the geopolitical changes,
government backing, the structure of the industry, together with the
assembly of such a talented and determined bunch of people basically
elevated NZ on the other side of the world head and shoulders above
the powerhouses of Europe and the USA.
Jeremy Hill, chief technology officer, Fonterra New Zealand:
A fascinating story about how industrial innovation really works in
practice. It takes time, it's often not linear, it takes
collaboration across disciplines and across organisations, but most
of all, it works because of the confidence, imagination, passion and
perseverance of individuals. The New Zealand dairy industry has
grown to global leadership through a number of technologically based
phases of innovation. Whey to Go describes one of the most important
of them.
|