Dairy & cheese

Cheese maturation is a microbiologically driven process where airflow, humidity and temperature jointly determine consistency, aroma and rind. Our cheese maturation pallets use a defined grid instead of a closed surface — air circulates from below to all sides. That prevents localised moisture pockets under the cheese.

A second critical factor is the surface microbiome. Wooden pallets carry an established microbiome of moulds and lactic-acid bacteria after 1–2 years, which is desirable for some varieties and problematic for others. Our PE pallets can be cleaned and disinfected without losing their surface structure — meaning you can run a rotation strategy (brie/camembert separate from hard cheese) with no cross-contamination.

For hard-cheese maturation rooms at ≥ 95 % RH and long-term ripening over 12 months, PE pallets stay mechanically stable with no swelling, mould attack or delamination. That makes them an auditable alternative to spruce-wood ripening boards, which are increasingly flagged in audits.

The most aggressive media in a dairy are brine (up to 22 % NaCl for hard cheese) and whey (pH 4.5–6.5 with lactic-bacterial activity). Both attack stainless steel through crevice corrosion and chloride stress-corrosion, especially at welds. Rotomoulded PE is chemically inert against both.

Our pallet boxes for curd, milk and cream batches are sealed and food-grade under EU 1935/2004 — they do not absorb fats from cream and do not release aromas to subsequent batches. In practice that matters when the same pool runs different recipes (yoghurt, quark, fresh cheese).

The internal geometry of all boxes is fully drained: no residual volume, no standing film. Combined with CIP-compatible cleaning heads we reach cycle times of 4–6 minutes per 1,000-litre box with repeatably validatable hygiene.

Milk transport is time- and temperature-sensitive: fresh raw milk must be cooled to ≤ 6 °C within two hours of milking (EC Reg. 853/2004). Our insulated transport boxes hold a temperature change of < 2 K over 8 hours without active cooling — covering typical milk-pooling collection routes end to end.

For intra-logistics we rely on stackable pallet boxes with 220–1,435 litres. Outside dimensions match Euro-pallet footprint; four truck tiers stack safely (up to 4,000 kg static stack load per DIN EN ISO 12048).

A frequently overlooked advantage: our boxes are odour-neutral and do not absorb lactic aroma even after years. For premium products (buffalo mozzarella, goat curd, sheep-milk cheese) that is the difference between acceptable and audit-compliant production.