Five Italian Robots Handle Maturation Tasks for Gaúcho Cheese

At RAR, a cheese producer in Vacaria, five machines perform recurring work inside the maturation chambers. They move moulds between shelves, turn them and brush their rinds, carrying out tasks that are repeated across thousands of pieces.

The equipment is used in the production of a grana-style cheese made with raw milk. It does not alter the recipe or determine the product’s composition; its role is to conduct specific maturation procedures with consistent timing and handling.

Maturation requires close control of several operations. Turning the moulds and brushing their surfaces are part of the process through which the cheese develops its characteristics. RAR’s automated system repeats these actions without the physical effort required for continuous manual work.

The five machines are distributed among four chambers. Their work forms part of the routine for the maturation of the cheese rather than being limited to an occasional or isolated operation. The system has remained in use for nearly three decades, following its installation 27 years ago.

The robots were imported from Italy and have continued to perform the same broad group of functions: moving, turning and brushing the moulds. The source does not provide figures for the equipment’s purchase, maintenance or operating costs, and it does not specify how many pieces the machines process each day.

The RAR operation combines raw milk, extended maturation and mechanical precision. In this arrangement, automation is applied to defined stages of production while the recipe and identity of the grana-style cheese remain unchanged. The report was produced by eDairyNews using information published by ACIA.