We recently stumbled across an original instructional video showing how Horlick manufactured malted milk. The almost four-minute video covers everything from mixing to shipping and everything in between. Take a step back in time to learn how the malted milk giant made its millions.

Daily Deliveries and Inspection

Stainless steel tank trucks would deliver fresh milk daily, while the barley malt would be stored safely in glass-lined silos. Each silo would hold over 250,000 pounds of barley malt.
Milk and wheat flour would be closely inspected to ensure they met regulations.

Mixing Malt and Flour

An employee would pour approved flour bags into a bin where the silos would add a precisely measured amount of malt for mixing. The flour and malt were processed in “steam-jacketed cooking vessels” called “mashed tons.”
The most nourishing food elements were extracted at this time. An operator would oversee every part of the process to ensure quality control.

Adding Fresh Milk

Fresh milk would be added to the malt and flour extract for further processing under vacuum by heat in a series of cookers known as “evaporators.” The evaporators would continuously remove moisture, making the mixture thick and syrup-like.

Final Processing

The final processing occurred in a vacuum pan, removing almost all moisture. The malted milk rises once wholly mixed, making a “honeycomb-like mass.” The mass would be ground into powder.

Grounding Malted Milk Into Powder

The factory has its own power plant to produce electricity and steam. A turbine generator creates the electrical power to run all machinery, while a several-story coal-burning boiler provides steam for all processing equipment.

Finished Product

The finished product is packaged-sealed air-tight in various containers, from 1 1/3rd ounce glass flasks to 200-pound drums. One-pound jars are filled, capped, labeled, packaged on an assembly line, and shipped to grocery and drug stores.
Packed cases of malted milk and malted milk tablets are sent directly to the warehouse from the packaging line. The packages are loaded on trains and trucks and sent across the country, South America, the Philippines, and Asia.

Watch: Horlick’s Malted Milk

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