Business case on RECP assessment in "Kara yev Karen" LLC
"Kara Yev Karen" is a dairy producer from Vanadzor. The company’s main output is the fermented probiotic "Narine", used in the nutrition of infants and toddlers. Moreover, the company is the only distributor of baby food in the regions of Lori, Shirak, and Tavush Marzes. The enterprise also produces buttermilk, yogurt, cheese, and butter, to name a few. Financing is based on mid-term loans and self-financing, therefore, the enterprise is interested in reducing its annual costs, especially in terms of electricity consumption and the use of plastic containers. Plans include market expansion by introducing new products. Motivated to address its high annual energy costs, the company participated in the RECP Demonstration Project under EU4Environment (2019-2024). This publication shows the company’s experience reported after the monitoring exercise conducted in 2022-2023.
The RECP assessment examined the production site and identified several RECP options, out of which the following three were prioritized by the company. These include low-cost measures:
RECP Option 1. Insulation of the steam pipes and the hot surface equipment: This measure consists of insulating the steam pipes and the hot surface equipment, especially the three-phase boiler, as it accounts for the highest electricity consumption during the milk pasteurization process. This would result in the reduction of thermal energy losses and, therefore, lower annual energy costs.
RECP Option 2. Reducing the use of plastic containers in packaging: This measure consists of reducing the use of plastic containers of 0.5kg and 1kg (specifically used for packing fermented cream). The measure would lower the generation of plastic waste, as well as the costs of purchasing new plastic containers. Moreover, the company would be able to focus more on producing butter, for which the demand has significantly increased.
RECP Option 3. Treatment and reuse of production residuals: This measure consists of redistributing the residuals from the cheese production process (mostly whey) to a pig farm and using it as a supplement in the nutrition of pigs. Furthermore, the quality of the wastewater would increase, since the concentration of residuals would be significantly reduced. The measure would also result in an increased income from selling the residuals as byproducts on the market.
