A modern fully automated plant for processing oils and fats has opened in Irkutsk, East Siberia.
The company used a soft loan from Sberbank to implement the over RUR 1 bln ($15 mio) project.
The new technology enabled a significant increase in the plant’s production capacity – the facility will roll out up to 250 tons of finished products per day. The quality of the products will also change – the plant’s technologists claim the new margarine will be healthier thanks to cooperation with the Belgian company De Smet.
Margarine is made from vegetable oil by saturating it with hydrogen. As a result of this process, the structure of fats changes – they turn into trans-fats that cannot be considered healthy food.
The Irkutsk plant will make margarine from healthy vegetable oils (such as soybean rather than palm oil) using the transesterification technology; this means the product will be trans-fat free.
The facility will include a modern lab with all necessary equipment to help control the quality and composition of its products.