GEA completes production at Tata Coffee plant in Vietnam

The plant in the Binh Duong Province produces 5,000 metric tons/a year of freeze-dried coffee. 

Freeze-dried powder

GEA supplied the entire production line from roast bean treatment to the packaging of the freeze-dried powder. 

“This type of project is ideal for us at GEA because our expertise and scope of supply allows us to build the entire coffee line using our own resources. This means we can maintain control and take responsibility for the entire project from start to finish​,” said Kim Knudsen, head of sales, Coffee and Freeze Drying, GEA. 

The project included: Carine extraction which operates at optimal conditions, using precisely developed extraction times to obtain the best yields; aroma recovery; Mechanical Vapor Recovery (MVR) evaporation; and a Conrad 600 XL Eco freeze dryer. 

GEA also built a pilot plant for Tata to develop exclusive blends for customers. 

The company previously worked with Tata Coffee when it built a coffee extraction and evaporation plant for them in India in 2013. 

Tata Coffee Vietnam marks the firm’s first venture outside the Indian subcontinent.

LEED certification

The site has been certified for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and is expecting BRC (British Retail Consortium) certification in the coming months. 

Radhakrishna Tirumala, MD, Tata Coffee Vietnam, said the geographical region of the plant will open up new markets for the company allowing them to ‘explore different grades of coffee to enhance its portfolio’.

“Our Vietnam plant is technologically advanced with equipment and machinery sourced from the best in the world.  We are going to have pilot plant in place along with the main unit to create and co-create customized blends​,” he said.  

“This will allow us to develop and deliver coffee blends as per customer requirements. Since the infrastructure of the plant was handled by VSIP (Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park) using a one umbrella approval system, it has made the approval procedure faster and well-organized.​”