Posted 11:16 am Sunday, March 22, 2009
Brookshire’s Dairy Plant Named Plant Of The Year
By BRIAN PEARSON
Business Editor
The milk goes from cow to dairy within 24 hours and hits store shelves within 36 hours.
During its brief stay at the Brookshire's dairy off East Erwin St. in Tyler, the milk gets pasteurized, homogenized, bottled, boxed and shipped out by the millions of gallons.
The dairy apparently does a pretty good job, too
Last week, the All Star Dairy Association named the facility its Dairy Plant of the Year. The association reviewed 250 dairy and ice cream plants in 45 states as well as Canada and Puerto Rico, according to a Brookshire's news release.
In addition, the company's ice cream, sour cream and yogurt operations took top association honors. Brookshire's has six Tyler area plants.
Business Editor
The milk goes from cow to dairy within 24 hours and hits store shelves within 36 hours.
During its brief stay at the Brookshire's dairy off East Erwin St. in Tyler, the milk gets pasteurized, homogenized, bottled, boxed and shipped out by the millions of gallons.
The dairy apparently does a pretty good job, too
Last week, the All Star Dairy Association named the facility its Dairy Plant of the Year. The association reviewed 250 dairy and ice cream plants in 45 states as well as Canada and Puerto Rico, according to a Brookshire's news release.
In addition, the company's ice cream, sour cream and yogurt operations took top association honors. Brookshire's has six Tyler area plants.
Half-gallon jugs flow on a conveyor on their way to be filled with milk at the Brookshire's plant on Erwin street. The operation runs 24 hours, five days a week.
At the base of it all is the milk, which arrives from West Texas in up to 10 trucks a day, seven days a week, said Toby Breland, dairy plant manager. Each truck carries 6,000 gallons, so that's 60,000 a day and 420,000 gallons a week.
And the dairy runs 24 hours a day.
"The cows never get a day off, so we don't either," Breland said.
And the dairy runs 24 hours a day.
"The cows never get a day off, so we don't either," Breland said.
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In addition to processing milk, sold in Brookshire's stores under the Food Club brand, the plant produces its own jugs through its 'blow mold' operation. The jugs are used for milk as well as other Brookshire's dairy products and even the company's tea and water, which are processed at another Tyler area plant. The dairy makes up to 40 million containers a year, Breland said.
Resin goes into one of several molding machines, which pop out jugs and send them to a machine that chops off the excess, which goes back into the resin machine. Deformed or leaky jugs are sorted out through a quality-check system. The rejects can be put back into the system if they don't hit the ground, Breland said.
Another little-known piece of dairy trivia is that every jug that runs through the machines that squirt in the milk carries the operator's initials, he added.
Mike Giles, dairy plant director, said the dairy was built in the 1920s on what was then a non-residential part of the area. The plant over the decades changed hands several times before Brookshire's bought it in 1990.
Today, the dairy, which employs 70, cranks out 18 million gallons of milk, with other products including orange juice, chocolate milk and buttermilk, Giles said.
Meanwhile, the ice cream plant, which makes 35 flavors of the award-winning Goldenbrook product, next month will unveil its line of Supreme Blend Good 4U 'frozen desserts' coming in three flavors: Strawberry Delight, Chocolate Trails and Vanilla Snowcap.
Hugo Fraga, ice cream plant director, said that compared to ice cream, the new product is low fat, low calorie and high in calcium.
"This product is basically very good for you," Fraga said. "It's healthy ... You become addicted."
As for overseeing an ice cream plant, Fraga said it's a tough gig.
"It's hard because you have to eat (ice cream) all the time," he said. "It's a cool and sweet (job)."
Resin goes into one of several molding machines, which pop out jugs and send them to a machine that chops off the excess, which goes back into the resin machine. Deformed or leaky jugs are sorted out through a quality-check system. The rejects can be put back into the system if they don't hit the ground, Breland said.
Another little-known piece of dairy trivia is that every jug that runs through the machines that squirt in the milk carries the operator's initials, he added.
Mike Giles, dairy plant director, said the dairy was built in the 1920s on what was then a non-residential part of the area. The plant over the decades changed hands several times before Brookshire's bought it in 1990.
Today, the dairy, which employs 70, cranks out 18 million gallons of milk, with other products including orange juice, chocolate milk and buttermilk, Giles said.
Meanwhile, the ice cream plant, which makes 35 flavors of the award-winning Goldenbrook product, next month will unveil its line of Supreme Blend Good 4U 'frozen desserts' coming in three flavors: Strawberry Delight, Chocolate Trails and Vanilla Snowcap.
Hugo Fraga, ice cream plant director, said that compared to ice cream, the new product is low fat, low calorie and high in calcium.
"This product is basically very good for you," Fraga said. "It's healthy ... You become addicted."
As for overseeing an ice cream plant, Fraga said it's a tough gig.
"It's hard because you have to eat (ice cream) all the time," he said. "It's a cool and sweet (job)."
