What is the case?

On the Wadden Islands of Terschelling, Ameland, and Schiermonnikoog, there is a desire to process milk locally into dairy products. By locally producing, processing, and (partially) marketing the milk, the circular economy is promoted. The ambition of the Wadden Islands is particularly focused on developing sustainable regional products.

What is the project doing about it?

The intention is to process more milk on the islands into cheese, reducing the transport of milk to the mainland. During cheese production, whey is generated as a by-product. Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences (VHL) has researched the possibilities of processing the whey into new products. Based on a scenario analysis model, processing the valuable proteins from whey into ricotta and ice cream proved to be the most promising.

What does the project deliver?

The entrepreneurs of the Wadden Islands are enthusiastic about the project's results. A follow-up project has now started at VHL, where high-quality ricotta is being developed based on Wadden milk. At the same time, lower-grade applications of whey, such as fertilizing agricultural areas on the Wadden Islands, are also being explored.

Project details

Applied Research Group/researcher: Dairy Process Technology / Peter de Jong
Project duration: July 2019 to November 2020 - May 2021: start of follow-up project
Project partners: Province of Fryslân, cheese dairy de Terschellinger, Schiermonnikoog Dairy Cooperative, Jur de Vries Ameland, and VHL.