Potatoes are still at the top of the list of Russian staple foods, but pasta is following close behind. Russians consumed about 830,000 metric tons of it in the year 2002, and this figure is on the increase. Russian pasta-makers have discovered the potential that their market offers them and have improved their products: Russian noodles were long made from soft wheat, which often gave them a not-so-appetizing, rather grayish color. Moreover, they did not stand up very well to cooking. Today, Russians are therefore increasingly using durum wheat for producing pasta. But they have found that new Buhler production technology also enables them to achieve excellent cooking quality and color with soft wheat – and this quality is meeting with acceptance in the market. But another major factor beside quality that is determining who will win the award for a new pasta Not only Italians love pasta production line is the reduction of cost. With its C-line, Buhler has supplied the ideal pasta production plant to Omsk – exactly what the customer needed.

Excellent track record of Buhler
The “Omskaja makaronnaja fabrika” in Omsk has been producing spaghetti and macaroni on a Buhler pasta line with a capacity of 36 tons per day since 1991. In 1998, a 20-ton short-goods line was added. The long and excellent track records of these Buhler plants was an important reason for the customer to invest in the new C-line short-goods line. It is capable of producing 36 metric tons of short goods a day, also from soft wheat, and this with a higher quality than conventional lines. This has been made possible, among other things, by the Buhler Polymatik extrusion press. This is the only press of its kind capable of making pasta with an appealing yellow color even if soft wheat is used as a raw material. The color is produced by beta-carotene, of which up to 40 percent are lost to oxidation in conventional production lines. The outstanding cooking characteristics result from the long stabilization time at a high temperature in the final dryer. By procuring the new C-line, the company has created a unified technological complex. The line is fully automated. Thanks to its modernization and expansion, the factory is now in a position to produce top-quality pasta in more than 20 different shapes. Much attention is also being paid to the packaging: The attractive and user-friendly packaging of “Omskaja makaronnaja fabrika” sets the company apart from other pasta providers both inside and outside the country. Today, the products from Omsk are known far beyond the borders of the region by the brand name “Dobrodeja”. This has allowed production to be increased, requiring the enlargement of the company’s warehouses. In the near future, work will start on the new railroad warehouse. The company currently employs some 240 people.