Life

From farm to flat in 10 hours

By Huang Yuli (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-30 08:17

Cows are arranged in a large circle for quick and efficient milking. [Photo/China Daily]

Healthy food is the pursuit of a growing number of city dwellers, keen to spend their hard-earned cash on products that can make them feel better. And though scares in the dairy industry did damage consumer confidence, few drinks have as much goodness as milk - as a result, body-conscious individuals are once again considering its merit. Things are different now. Far from just toe the line, some milk producers are setting high standards on dairy manufacture. After a recent event in the city, METRO heard one company claim to deliver fresh milk and yogurt straight to a customer's door, in no more than 10 hours after exiting the cow's udder. We went to check it out, all the way to Zhangjiakou in Hebei province.

Sunset

It was close to 6 pm and 0 C when we - a reporter and a photographer - arrived at the Saibei Farm of Modern Farming Group, 300 kilometers from downtown Beijing.

According to Zhou Shigang, chief of the production department, the farm is 1,000 meters above sea level and sits close to Inner Mongolia.

Zhou took us around the milking hall, where hundreds of cows stood on a large circular turning table, facing the center like spokes on a bicycle.

The farm's 20,000 Holstein cows, imported from Australia and housed in 49 sheds, are milked three times a day. As much as 70 percent of the product is supplied to Mengniu - one of China's largest dairy brands - but the rest is used in the farm's own range of products, which began sales in March this year.

Six workers, dressed in overalls, wipe the teats of the cows before attaching milking devices.

Zhou said each cow has an ID tag on its ear. This identity allows them to pull information that includes her date of birth, parents and number of children.

"Each cow has a bed filled with saw dust, so that when they lie down, their udder is not squashed," Zhou said.

He added that the cow sheds are closed to visitors in order to protect against infection. Part of the floor is visible through a glass partition, but what isn't apparent is the gentle music played while the animals are being milked.

Left: Dairy products are bottled in a sealed environment at the farm. Right: A worker packs boxes into a refrigerated vehicle.

Midnight

With an ivory moon high in the sky and the day crossing from one to the next, it was somewhat fitting when we were asked to change our clothes into white overalls, with cap and mask.

After passing through a room designed for combating infection, we entered the processing area. The workers had already started processing - they looked focused and busy. According to Zhou, the whole bottling process lasts only half an hour and takes place every three days, the result of which is nearly 7,000 bottles of milk and yogurt.

Pipes connected to milking devices channel the white liquid into processing machines. This is the end of the line for observers though as the final steps - clarifying, pasteurization, filling and sealing - are accomplished in a sealed environment deep inside the machine. Ten minutes later, workers are already packing the bottles into boxes, ready for transport.

This stage lasts only 30 minutes. A refrigerated vehicle hums at the building entrance and is filled within minutes. Then, as if the whole experience wasn't rapid enough, the real movement begins - in the dead of the night, we head back to the city.

It was well below zero and the clear night and elevated position brought a sparkling bed of stars within reach. As tiredness crept in, we were gently reminded that another five hours were needed on the road.

Left: A motorcycle delivery man rides the streets of Beijing. Right: English teacher Tom Gagne enjoys a bottle of milk.

Sunrise

The sun was still down at 6 am when we arrived at a distributing center near the North Fourth Ring Road.

After a complicated process of unloading and arrangement, we followed Xie Tao, a local delivery guy, to a home in Wangjing in Chaoyang district. This is one of 30 places he has to deliver before the day is up.

It was English teacher Tom Gagne, from the US, who signed for three bottles of milk and the same of yogurt. He told METRO the milk reminded him of a similar product made in Massachusetts, where he grew up.

"It is thick and sweet, but not too sweet," he said.

Though this is the second time Gagne has had milk delivered, he claims to have fallen in love with it. Gagne enjoys adding it to his coffee while his wife said she prefers drinking it on its own.

Gagne's Chinese wife, Deng Yuhuan, who is the principal of a middle school and also in her 60s, said they first heard about the milk from an old friend. She said she would recommend it to their other friends.

"We teachers are normally very cautious about our recommendations," she said.

"But I really hope the farm can continue doing well."