Let’s talk about ice-cream or how Smorgon ice-cream is made
I must admit I was surprised. Of course I can’t but agree that Smorgon ice-cream is tasty. But how did it happen that this ice-cream was included in the list of 100 things you should do in Belarus? It is remarkable that the list was made by the Belarusians who voted on the social networking sites. It means that there are so many people in Belarus who have ever tasted our ice-cream and remembered its taste and they managed to make the Belarusian national tourism agency speak about it in all parts of the country! This is the main reason why we decided to visit Smorgon ice-cream industry.
It’s 9 a.m. The work is going on full swing in the factory workshop of “Smorgon milk products”. A small group of workers are busy with packing the ice-cream. This is the only production stage that can be watched by everybody who is in the workshop. The other stages are hidden in unfamiliar for an ordinary man storage reservoirs.
Making ice-cream begins when a milk truck delivers milk to the factory. I won’t give you a lot of information what is happening to milk before it gets to the whole-milk workshop. To begin with, before producing ice-cream every new shift of workers prepares and checks equipment. When everything is ready the milk is brought to the equipment. It is heated to +30-35°C here. At this temperature they add the ingredients of the ice-cream: cream, sugar, starch (instead of stabilizers) and so on. Then they pasteurize the mixture at the temperature of +84-85°C for 5-15 minutes. It is done so as to make sure there are no bacteria in the milk mixture. After pasteurizing there is homogenization and cooling of the mixture. Then it is put into the equipment for the further maturation at 3-4°C. The next stage is milling process where the mixture is aerated and then prepacked. When everything is done the mixture gets to the refrigeratory.
Igor Voronische, the director of “Smorgon milk products”, says that one shift produces 900 kg of ice-cream. Last year they produced and sold 34 tons of ice-cream. This year they have already produced and sold 19 tons. Until recently the sales geography of Smorgon ice-cream has been limited to three districts – Smorgon, Oshmyany and Ostrovets. Today you can see our ice-cream in the shops of Molodechno and Minsk districts as well.
Anna Chertovich, a shop assistant in “Burenka”, says that Smorgon ice-cream is the most popular with the residents of our town. In summer months they sell about one ton of ice-cream. Apart from the residents of Smorgon the most active consumers of our ice-cream are the residents of Minsk who visit our town. They don’t buy 1-2 ice-creams but make a much bigger purchase in “Burenka”.
What do the residents of Smorgon think about our ice-cream? Why do they like it? These questions were asked to some passers-by.
Elena:
“I always buy and eat Smorgon ice-cream with great pleasure. My children and grandchildren are fond of its taste too. I am thankful to the management and the workers of “Smorgon milk products” for such delicious ice-cream”.
Oksana:
“I’ve tried Smorgon ice-cream. It’s delicious. In comparison with other ice-creams ours is tastier. You can taste natural ingredients in it”.
Ekaterina and Yaroslav:
“We are just going to buy Smorgon ice-cream. We like it because it’s real, high-fat, sweet and vanillic. We advise our friends from other towns to taste the real Smorgon ice-cream”.
Sergey Yurevich
Photo: by author