GEA completes plant for Tata Coffee Vietnam

Tata Coffee Vietnam Company Limited now runs a production plant for freeze-dried instant coffee in Binh Duong Province. The plant inaugurated on 6 March 2019, runs a complete line supplied by GEA, from the roast bean treatment right through to the packing of the freeze-dried powder.

Tata Coffee Vietnam is a 100% subsidiary of Tata Coffee Limited, India. Its new facility produces 5,000 metric tons of freeze-dried coffee annually.

CONRAD® 600 XL ECO freeze dryer (Photo: GEA)

According to GEA, the project took 19 months to complete. The leading technology supplier said the production line includes the CARINE extraction which operates at optimal conditions, using precisely developed extraction times to obtain the highest possible yields while respecting the final product quality; aroma recovery; mechanical vapor recovery (MVR) evaporation; and a CONRAD® 600 XL ECO freeze dryer for highly efficient continuous operation with minimal energy consumption. GEA also supplied a complete pilot plant, providing Tata with facilities where it can develop exclusive blends for customers.

GEA has carried out work for Tata Coffee in the past, supplying coffee extraction and evaporation plant that GEA built for the company in India in 2013. GEA also has extensive experience of building coffee plants in Vietnam and this local experience was extremely useful as GEA project managers were able to provide Tata with support in sourcing experienced and reliable local partners for managing, utilities, installation and workshop facilities. The factory required nearly one million man hours to build and maintain an exemplary safety record. The site has been certified for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and is expecting BRC (British Retail Consortium) certification shortly.

Kim Knudsen, Head of Sales, Coffee and Freeze Drying at GEA said that the Tata factory in Vietnam had been a model project for the company. “This type of project is ideal for us at GEA because our expertise and scope of supply allows us to build the entire coffee line using our own resources,” he said. “This means we can maintain control and take responsibility for the entire project from start to finish.”

Vietnam is the second largest producer of green coffee, next only to Brazil.