WINCANTON CARTONLESS CHEESE PRODUCTION

Wincanton Cheese Systems has signed an agency agreement for the UK and Ireland
with Mercer Technologies for the unique
'CCP' (cartonless cheese production) system.

The unique system allows large-scale producers of traditional cheese such as Cheddar,
to massively reduce their operating costs and reduce their carbon footprint by avoiding the use of cardboard in the manufacturing process.

The current production system employed by the majority British and Irish cheddar makers involves putting each block of cheese that they produce into a corrugated cardboard box, allowing the cheese to mature, then removing the cheese from the box and disposing of the cardboard before the cheese is cut up into retail sized portions.

"This wasted cardboard is not only costing the manufacturers over £500,000
per year in waste, but also contributing greatly to Europe’s carbon footprint,"
said Wincanton sales manager Shaun Mullins.

Commenting on the cartonless cheese system, Emmanuel Roth, Mercer Technologies, said
"We are very pleased to be working with Wincanton in the UK and Ireland. After the original development of the cartonless cheese system in Australia proved to be a runaway success, cheesemakers in the US and Japan have recently seen the massive opportunity
to reduce their manufacturing costs and committed to purchasing cartonless cheese systems. Now, as a result of our partnership with Wincanton, British and Irish cheese manufacturers will be able to benefit from the technology."

The cartonless cheese system replaces the disposable cardboard boxes with precision made stainless steel moulds, that are not only reuseable almost indefinitely, but also improve the shape of the cheese blocks. This is an important feature, as the more regular in shape the block, the less cheese is wasted as offcuts during the retail cutting and packing process.

Phil Doxey commented, "Many of my customers are currently looking to upgrade
their manufacturing processes. They are coming under increased pressure to deliver the highest quality cheese to the major retail customers, at lower and
lower prices. The CCP system is the single biggest leap forward in cheese manufacturing technology in years, and we are now able to offer our UK and
Irish customers the opportunity to enjoy the benefits resulting from this new technology."

To find out more, Phil Doxey can be contacted on +44 (0)7989 323211
or by email