Yoghurt is firm, creamy or liquid acidified milk products manufactured from pasteurized milk by use of thermophilic lactic acid bacterial. In order to increase the dry matter content of the yoghurt in line with the given local preferences (which vary around the world), milk can be concentrated or powder can be added to obtain a fortification - or the milk can be concentrated by means of ultrafiltration (UF). Typical standard yoghurt is not heat treated subsequent to fermentation and does not contain binding agents.

The various types of yoghurt are characterized by their structural properties. In strained yoghurt or concentrated yoghurt (like Labneh and/or Shrikhand) the gel has been broken and concentrated through a soft cheese separator or a UF Filtration to achieve an even higher dry matter content prior to cooling and filling. This process is very similar to the production of Quark and Tvorog.

The below processing parameters are general guidelines and should only be considered as such.

Processing Sequence

Sequence Process/Technology
Processed milk
1. Dry matter standardization (SNF 11-13%) Fortification, evaporation or UF concentration
2. Deaeration (0.7-0.8 barg at 70°C) Deaerator module
3. Homogenizing (one stage, 220 barg at 70°C) Homogeniser module, Niro Soavi, NANOVALVE
4. Heat treatment (95°C for 5 min.) Heat treatment, PHE Systems/VARITHERM
5. Inoculation of starter culture Inoculation module
6. Fermentation (long or short time)  
7. Concentration/separation/filtration (TS 24%) KDB soft cheese separator
8. Cooling PHE Systems/VARITHERM
9. Fruit/flavour dosing Aseptic fruit mixing module
10. Cup filling GEA Procomac


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