The students of class VII of the PSBB Millennium school, on the 22nd of October, 2009 were taken on an educational trip to Hatson Agro (Pvt.) Ltd. Dairy situated in Kancheepuram.
As soon as the students entered into the milky world, they were marvelled by the environment. Plants were grown almost everywhere. And the place was kept very neat and tidy.
The students were given a short introduction about the factory, which was the creator of the popular Arun icecream and Arokya milk. Apart from the factory, the students also learnt about the Hatsun dairy farms which they visited later that day.
About 5000 employees work for the factory which works 24×7. An amazing amount of 16.5 lakh litres of milk is produced in the factory every day! The farm also exports powder milk. Some other products prepared at the factory were toned milk, paneer, curd, ghee, butter, buttermilk.
After the introduction, the students were set ready for the real surprises that awaited them. They first were given some clothes of safety before entering the mechanical part of the milky world.
As they passed, they caught a glimpse of silos which were large tanks where milk was stored. Some silos stored raw milk and others stored processed milk. The raw milk obtained directly from the cows contains Protein, Carbohydrates, fat, water, calcium and bacteria.
First the raw milk is sent to the pasteurizer for pasteurization. In the process of pasteurization, germs are killed. Then the milk is sent to a machine called Bactofuge where the dead germs are removed. Now the milk is germ free, but the fat content is not spread evenly. So the milk is sent to homogenizers, after which all areas of the milk have the same amount of fat. Once the milk is processed it is stored in cold storage rooms.
The next stop was the place where butter and ghee was being made.
Later the students saw how milk powder was being made. The factory has a unique effluement treatment plant. The waste water produced by the factory was recycled and then used for gardening.
The students were filled with knowledge about milk production by the end of the trip. Before leaving, each student was treated with an ice-cream!