DairyPost Africa • May 2014
Brookside Dairy’s Amos Okech, clad in protective clothing
including ear muffs, performs the alcohol gun test on raw
milk at the reception platform at the company’s Kiganjo
bulking station, Nyeri. A strict quality standards regime by
the company ensures that only the best milk ends up in the
process house. PHOTO/BROOKSIDE PR
One of the farmers contracted by Brookside
Dairy at Endarasha, Mr. Stephen Gakere,
says over the years, they have become part
of the company’s standards regime.
“We appreciate the need to ensure that the
milk we sell to Brookside is of the highest
quality. In our village, today, you would
hardly find farmers’ milk failing to get past
the density test, for example. Eventually, we
know there is more to gain from giving the
company the best milk,” Gakere says.
According to Gakere, the processor has been
engaging its contracted farmers on clean
milk production during dairy training courses
organized as part of the company’s extension
services. The situation at Kiganjo is replicated
in all the company’s stations countrywide,
and for Brookside, the stringent quality
standards are adhered to from the satellite
collection centres to the bulking stations.
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A field raw milk transport fleet at the Kiganjo station preparing to offload their day’s collection. Brookside Dairy operates the largest raw milk transport fleet in the EA region.
“When we design the cooling centres, we pay
attention to every detail in the equipment
set-up, including provision of materials for
cleaning and milk testing. It does not matter
whether our stations are operating at 1 per
cent or full capacity…the procedures for raw
milk testing and sanitation of the cooling
centres must be followed with religious zeal
at all times,” John Gethi, Brookside’s General
Manager in charge of milk procurement and
extension services says.
“It is very tempting to try and cut costs,
especially when a particular station is
operating at a sub-optimum level, but for
Brookside, quality standards supersede any
other operational considerations. It means
that we shall still go the full hog in our
hygiene practices at our cooling centre and
subject the raw milk received from farmers
to all the tests,” he adds.