Make it hot, make it cold, don't change the taste

Dairy Foods, July, 2004

When Feldmeier Equipment wanted to test a new way of pasteurizing milk, it sent half-pint samples to some tough customers: prisoners in North Corolina and students at North Carolina State.

"We didn't recieve one complaint," said Bob Feldmeier Sr.,, the company's founder and chief executive officer. "And if we would have gotten a cpmplaint, it would most likly have come from the prisoners.

The trick to pasteurizing is to heat milk to a temperature that kills organisms without altering the taste, he said. Under U.S. law, processors must heat milk to 161 degrees or higher and hold it there for 16 seconds. Then they cool the liquid to 38 degrees, bottle it and send it to store shelves, Feldmeier said.

At those temperatures, milk has a shelf life of two or three weeks, he said.

However, European manufacturers have developed equipment to heat milk to 280 degrees, hold it there for 2 seconds, then cool it and bottle it. The European method allows milk to stay on store shelves for 30 to 60 days, Feldmeier said.

His company has developed equipment similar to the European manufacturers', but it uses 80 percent less energy and can be attached to a processors' existing system, Feldmeier said.

"It's going to be a big thing in this country." he said

Feldmeier has a patent pending on its new equipment. In the meantime, the company has plenty of work building pasteurization systems and steel tanks to keep busy.

It sells equipment to companies that pasteurize eggs, juice, milk, salsa and pharmaceuticals. Feldmeier sends its equipment around the world, including to China, Ireland, Russia and Sweden

Founder and Chief Executive Officer: Bob Feldmeier, Sr.

Founded: 1952

Employment: 370 incliding, 120 in Syracuse and 140 in Little Falls. The company also has plants in Alabama, Iowa and Nevada.

What the company does: Makes pasteurization equipment and storage tanks used to pasteurize eggs, drugs, juice, milk, puddings, salsa and water.

Its a family thing: Bob Feldmeier is founder and Chief Executive officer of the company. His wife, Peggy Lou Feldmeier, is company Comptroller, All of their children work for the company. They include President Jake Feldmeier, Sales Manager Bob Feldmeier Jr., Office Manager Lisa Clark and Human Resources Manager Jeanne Jackson. Colby Clark, the Feldmeiers' grandson, representing the third generation in the business, is the Syracuse Plant Manager.

Address: Feldmeier Equipment Inc. 6800 Townline Road, Syracuse, New York 13211

Telephone: 315 454 8608

Web Site: www.feldmeier.com