QUESCREM (INNOLACT SL) , hereinafter INNOLACT, is a SME established in 2006 as a spin off of the research group of “Aula de Productos Lácteos” of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), based on research results that were transferred to it through a contract. This research work was linked to two specific lines related to the use of selective filtration techniques in the dairy industry, as listed below:  

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Manufacture of cheeses: with the application of the technique in the extraction of lactic pastes, to whose family belong the cream cheeses or pasteurized white cheeses.  

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The valorization of co-products of the dairy industry

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Since its creation, it has as its objective the production and commercialization of a range of products based on cream cheese (legal name: Pasteurized White Cheese) based on a new production technology that includes the use of high functional value co-products of the dairy industry, combined with the use of new production technologies that allow more efficient use of raw materials and energy, as well as obtaining new products. 

The company sold a total of 3,838,220 kg of cream cheese, mascarpone and fresh cheese in 2021, representing a turnover of 16.55 million euros, which was 40% more than in 2020. INNOLACT's export sales in 2021 amounted to 7.14 million euros, an increase of almost 43% compared to 2020, excluding sales in Portugal. The company has two factories in Castro de Rei (Lugo):  

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The initial factory, Q1, operational since 2007 and which has undergone significant extensions and improvements to reach 90% of its productive capacity in the current year.  

A new factory, Q2, built within the framework of a three-year investment plan with a budget of more than 4 million of Euros. This new production unit was created with the aim of implementing a new technology of Mascarpone production within the framework of the Lactolife project (ITC-20151108). Throughout 2016 and 2017, construction was carried out and its productive activity began.  

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Both facilities are fully automated and the most advanced technologies are used there in order to achieve a high quality and regular product. The advanced manufacturing technology has been developed, designed and built by the company and allows that the milk components with the highest nutritional, functional and technological value are concentrated in the cheese, bringing creaminess, softness and unique technological properties to its products.  

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The Quescrem product range has been developed since 2007, when there was only 1 reference, and currently it is made up of more than 50 products, which can also be marketed in 10 different packaging formats.  

This covers a wide variety of market needs in terms of varieties, flavors and functionalities, as well as specific formats for each channel: Retail, Food Service and industrial. Natural Quescrem, Mascarpone Quescrem, Quescrem with blue cheese and garlic and fine herbs are the main references, among which is also Quescrem Fresh Cheese. 

 

Within AI REDGIO 5.0 project, Quescrem will participate as a pilot plant applying digital twin technologies.