The VitaGoat is a food processing system that can be used to create value-added products from cereals, grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables, enabling local groups to increase food security, improve health and create micro-businesses and employment. Primary foods can be processed into flours, pastes or wet slurries and used “as is” or further cooked with steam, as for soymilk and its various derivatives. Cooked foods can also be used “as is” or pressed in a manual filter press to make juices and energy-dense beverages. The key feature of the VitaGoat is that it can make all of these foods without the need for electricity; grinding is provided through “pedal power” while cooking energy is provided via an innovative and fuel-efficient steam boiler.
Types of Foods and Productivity:
The VitaGoat System:
Components:
The VitaGoat has four main components although one of these, the bicycle grinder, can be used on its own in situations where only dry foods are processed without cooking.
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(1) Steam boiler: Operating on either wood or other hard fuels or liquid gas, the boiler is estimated to be 10 times more fuel efficient than traditional open fire cooking and more efficient than improved stove-design cooking. Water is heated in an inner chamber and the resulting steam is re-heated in a tube, creating a “superheated steam” that is much hotter than regular steam. The boiler is inexpensive to build, safe, and can be taken apart for cleaning. This latter feature is critical since most boilers accumulate scale on their inner shells and eventually fail. |
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(2) Bicycle grinder: Based on a design originally created in the mid-70s in the US, energy is produced through a pedal-powered system that uses adjustable-speed pulleys, permitting fast and easy grinding of a variety of foods. An inexpensive modified hand mill using metal to metal plates grinds foods 10-50 times faster than with traditional methods. Seating is adjustable depending on the operator’s height and the adjustable speeds can be matched to the individual’s power. |
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Close up view of the “Corona mill” grinder. Other grinders and implements can easily be adapted to the pedal-powered mechanism. The grinding system is simple, but the bicycle design is the result of many tests,modifications and ergonomic and functional concerns.The seat position is adjustable according to the person’s height and leg length. |
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The first “pass” in the grinder produces coarse cornmeal while the second pass yields very fine cornmeal. Ground coffee can also be produced in one pass from roasted beans and the grind is finer than that produced with North American home type electric mills. The production output for the cornmeal is roughly ½ lb per minute for coarse meal and 1/3 lb per minute for fine meal. Grinding output depends on the operator’s pedaling speed and selected grinding gear ratio. These outputs are still almost equivalent to motorized grinding speeds and much faster than hand grinding (10 times faster) and traditional “mortar and pestle” methods (on the order of 50 times faster). |
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(3) Cooker: Made from stainless steel, this vessel can cook up to 15 liters of food per batch, under pressure, thus greatly reducing cooking time and saving fuel. It is equipped with temperature and pressure gauges and a safety pressure relief valve. Product is fed through an easily removable top opening and steam enters the vessel through openings located on the bottom of the vessel. Cooked product exits the cooker through a valve-controlled bottom opening. |
(4) Press: Also all stainless steel, pressing occurs by turning a screwed rod that pushes onto a sanitary plastic disc, in turn squeezing out liquid from product held within a filter bag. The liquid pours out the bottom into a pail. The press is very simple to operate and clean. |
Spare parts and instructions:
Each system includes a set of spare parts such as gaskets, gauges, belt, and a few others. These are expected to be sufficient for at least 1 year’s continuous operation. Specialised training and support by Redi Bergville (www.redi.org.za).
VitaGoat Pilot Projects
Malnutrition Matters has to date installed nine pilot VitaGoat systems in Africa, India and Korea, with seven more systems currently en route or awaiting installation (as of 02/06). The first three pilot installations, in Guinea, Mozambique and Chad were installed in partnership with Africare. These initial pilots have been very successful in three key aspects. One, they have shown that with minimal training, the VitaGoat can be operated at the expected production capacity in typical field environments (no electricity, limited water supply). Two, the trial productions of soymilk, fruit and vegetable purees, and ground nuts have proven very desirable from a consumer perspective. Three, indications are that the VitaGoat is viable as a business where it is used by a cooperative of community members or as a micro-enterprise.
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Malnutrition Matters has completed the first technology transfer to India, where the first locally made systems were completed in late 2005. The first VitaGoat pilot system has been successfully installed in Bergville, KZN, under Redi (www.redi.org.za) Bergville Management. This facility is used for training and local production of VitaGoat units.
All key parts of the system, including the boiler and bicycle grinder, were designed to make them practical to produce under developing country manufacturing environments, using mostly common parts and materials. The VitaGoat pricing is available on Request.
Economics:
The major investment cost of setting up a VitaGoat system is the cost of the equipment itself, along with a suitable production space. There are no costs associated with installing or consuming electricity or running water. The water source for the system can be as simple as a bucket. It is expected that the investment will pay for itself within a year, assuming at least 3-4 hours daily production. The VitaGoat can be used in a number of settings, such as: direct feeding in humanitarian projects, use in social institutions (hospitals, schools, etc) and, perhaps most importantly, as the principal vehicle for a food production micro-enterprise which could employ 5 to 10 people. This could be like a “restaurant”, food processing “mini-plant”, retail outlet, or any combination of these.
Food Security:
The VitaGoat can allow a group to help meet its nutritional needs and generate income at the same time. The foods can be processed much faster than with traditional methods, value-added foods can be prepared in greater volumes, freeing up time for women and girls for other activities, including education, care for others and income-generating activities. Also, much less energy is expended in preparing the foods, thus reducing the caloric needs of the women and freeing them from often exhausting work. The VitaGoat can also enable preserving of foods that are in seasonal over-supply by using the steam boiler for sterilization in an additional vessel.
SoyCow Food Processing Unit (electrical)
The SoyCow is an electrical food processing system that can be used to create value-added products from cereals, grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables, enabling local groups to increase food security, improve health and create micro-businesses and employment. Primary foods can be processed into flours, pastes or wet slurries and used “as is” or further cooked with steam, as for soymilk and its various derivatives. Cooked foods can also be used “as is” or pressed in a manual filter press to make juices and energy-dense beverages.
Specifications:
The SoyCow food processing unit produces 14 L of soy drink every 20 – 25 minutes using only It is provided with a single phase, one HP motor which works on the house hold electric phase.
SolarFlex™ Fruit and Vegetable Dryer
A medium-sized fruit and vegetable dehydrator that is generally lower in cost in relation to its drying capacity (approx. 50 sq m of drying space). It is operable using only passive solar (to provide heat via hot air) and one small active solar panel (power to the fan via battery) , and can optionally utilize Malnutrition Matters existing bio-mass steam boiler as a back-up heat source. This unit utilizes only natural energy to produce dehydrated products produced within an enclosed drying space, improving hygiene during the actual drying process.
Proto-type successfully tested in South Africa. Production of units to commence soon.