Steel cow
A steel cow is a milk filling machine for sale to private consumers. The machine does not dispense pre-packaged milk; instead, the customer taps the milk himself into containers they have brought with them or provided.
Steel cows in grocery stores
Steel cows have been placed in self-service food markets since the late 1970s . Customers were able to fill milk in bottles or milk cans that they had brought with them or provided in a deposit system. The system was designed to reduce packaging material by allowing the milk containers to be reused. Steel cows in grocery markets did not catch on, however, and the devices disappeared again from the markets.
Steel cows in direct marketing from the farm
Since 2012, dairy farmers have been using steel cows as milk vending machines for direct marketing of raw milk from the farm. Such milk filling stations dispense milk to the customer after inserting money.
For the farm-gate sales of raw milk , special requirements apply. Only raw milk from the same or previous day can be sold and the milk must have been produced on the farm itself. Customers must be made aware that it is raw milk that must be heated before consumption. In addition, the rooms and equipment must meet certain hygiene standards.
Steel cows in direct marketing in cities
In recent years, milk vending machines have also increasingly been set up in large cities. Large systems with a capacity of 1,800 liters were created e.g. B. in Athens .
The aim is to keep the distances between the point of sale and the customer as short as possible. In order to be able to sell milk outside the city, farmers have to pasteurize their milk beforehand, as in most EU countries the sale of raw milk is only allowed on the farm itself.
technology
The machines are either connected directly to the milk chamber with a hose , or the farmer puts milk cans with a stirrer with a capacity of 50 to 150 liters in the machine. In the machine, the milk is cooled and stirred to prevent creaming .
Steel cows are offered by various manufacturers, e.g. B. Brunimat from the Swiss company of the same name . Other manufacturers of steel cows are the companies Risto and Elmer Präzisionstechnik .
In Germany, the machines must be calibrated. To do this, they must comply with the European Measuring Instruments Directive 2014/32 / EU. This must be noted in the manufacturer's declaration of conformity.
The inventor of the steely cow is the dairy managing director Arnold Stadler († 2009), who received a patent in 1987 for an improved self-tapping milk system. However, this patent refers to an earlier patent by Peter Agena on such a milk filling system.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ It's madness in: Der Spiegel, September 25, 1989.
- ↑ Hygiene regulation for food of animal origin, § 17 Distribution of raw milk or raw cream to consumers. Federal Ministry of Justice, last accessed on January 8, 2018.
- ↑ Hygiene Ordinance for Food, Appendix 2. Federal Ministry of Justice, last accessed on September 28, 2010.
- ↑ Pegasus Interactive: Τα ΑΤΜ γάλακτος έφτασαν στην Αθήνα! In: ethnos.gr. Retrieved June 6, 2016 .
- ↑ Sale of raw milk is only allowed directly at the stall. In: agrarheute.com. November 26, 2014, accessed June 6, 2016 .
- ↑ a b http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/staehlerne-kuehe-milch-aus-dem-automat-1.3494264
- ↑ Report on merkur-online.de, accessed on October 13, 2012.
- ↑ Patent DE3528273 : Self-tapping milk system. Published April 2, 1987 .
- ↑ Patent DE3214662 : Device and method for automatic low-germ filling of loose milk into bottles. Published November 3, 1983 .