Lattebox, an Italian company that deals in dairy technology, has introduced milk dispensing machines in Rwanda.

The firm is one of the companies that are exhibiting their products at the 2-day 6th Eastern and Southern Africa Dairy Association (ESADA) conference taking place at Kigali Serena Hotel.

According to Antonio Magnaghi, the Assistant Director of Lattebox, milk dispensing machines are modern machines that are fixed in strategic places where customers can insert cash and are automatically sold pasteurized milk from the machine’s taps.

"The machine generally works like a petrol station,” Magnaghi said. "Consumers feed it with cash and then they fill their bottles with the milk equivalent to the amount they slot in.”

He added that the machines have been certified by the Rwanda National Dairy Board (RNDB) and also fulfilled the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

"The milk dispensing machines will help to cut costs of packaging faced by dairy farmers, whereby farmers will fill the machines with over 100 liters of pasteurized milk and will at the end of the day withdraw money from the machine,” Magnaghi said.

The Lattebox Rwanda Representative, Ben Benzinge, said that the machines are environment friendly and the technology can keep the milk at good temperatures and fresh for 7 days.

"Rwanda produces a lot of milk, and the surplus doesn’t reach the markets due to technicalities in packaging and transport costs,” Benzinge said.

"The machines will eliminate the packaging and transport costs, and make milk more available to people in busy areas and to school going children at a lower cost.”

Ends