The processes involved in milk production and its trade has taken a new shape with changing times and increasing demands. As per Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations, approximately 150 million households globally are engaged in milk production. Reports further say that in the last 30 years, world milk production has rapidly increased by more than 50%. India is the leading milk producing country with 18% of the global production.
Manufacturing Process of Sweetened Milk and Cream
Condensed milk is milk from which water is drained out. It is primarily available in the form of sweetened or unsweetened condensed milk. To prepare sweetened condensed milk, the raw milk is heated to about 85 degrees centigrade for several seconds and is piped into an evaporator to remove the water content. Milk is then concentrated until it reaches 30-40% of solid consistency and then cooled and inoculated with 40% of powdered lactose crystals. This sugar improves the shelf life of canned condensed milk and then vacuum sealed and shipped in cans.All dairy products have to follow stringent rules and regulations to achieve the prescribed standards. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), sweetened condensed milk must contain 28% of total milk solids and 8% by weight of milk fat.
Exporters of Sweetened Milk and Cream
As per the International Trade Centre (ITC) data, New Zealand, USA and Germany are the leading exporters of sweetened milk in the global market. New Zealand has dominates the scene by exporting $4,439,241,000 of sweetened milk in 2015. The United States, being the fastest growing exporter with an increase by 15% of its previous growth, exported $1,515,108,000 in 2015. Germany’s export value of condensed or sweetened milk products reached to 307 thousand tons by 2015. It exported $1,459,370,000 of milk in the same year, but global sales of concentrated milk exports have reduced by an average of -25.3% from 2014 to 2015. New Zealand mainly exported its milk products to China, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Algeria and Saudi Arabia.