Bühler and DIL inaugurate Technology Center Proteins of the Future in Germany

Swiss technology group Bühler AG and the food technology research institute DIL Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik e V have further strengthened their partnership. The unique technology center in Quakenbrück, Germany, provides state-of-the-art research, test, and production infrastructure for the development of healthy, sustainable protein food products. The center is fully operational and ready to receive requests from customers.

Healthy and sustainable food production

“The opening of the Technology Center Proteins of the Future emphasizes the strong partnership we have forged with DIL in a very short time frame. With our combined expertise we are making a vital contribution to closing the protein gap,” says Stefan Scheiber, chief executive officer at Bühler Group.

“The proteins of the future must be sustainable. Resource consumption in their production must be kept as low as possible through appropriate processing and products to meet the expectations of responsible consumers,” says Volker Heinz, director, and chief executive officer at DIL.

Plant-based proteins can contribute to solving the current sustainability challenges. It is therefore important to develop underused sources of protein and transform them into attractive high-quality and affordable products that succeed in the food market. The growing consumer demand for healthy, great-tasting, and sustainable food products, particularly healthy alternatives to animal proteins, represents a great opportunity for the food-producing industry.

“The center with its advanced technological setup and expert teams assists our customers in the food industry as well as start-ups to fully realize the potential of new plant-based proteins and develop new healthy and environmentally friendly food products for a growing market,” says Johannes Wick, chief executive officer Grains and Food at Bühler Group.

The Technology Center Proteins of the Future supports customers throughout the entire process from prototyping new products and upscaling of production processes to contract manufacturing for initial market phases and comprehensive consultancy services. Combined with the full protein value chain solutions from Bühler, ideas can be realized much faster in complete plant solutions tailored to customer needs.

The service offering by The Technology Center Proteins of the Future

Prototyping – The team at the center develops new formulations and applications and produces first prototypes with a pilot scale extrusion system. The service also includes process parameter optimization.

Upscaling – Once the prototyping phase is completed, success criteria are defined for the upscaling process to full production capacity. Tests can be undertaken at the new full-scale extrusion plant.

Contract manufacturing – The service allows customers to launch products within a minimum time frame. As products are manufactured on the same machinery throughout, they can be moved to the production stage quickly and with high levels of consistency. The quick-to-market approach minimizes risk as customers don’t need to invest in equipment before a viable market penetration is reached.

Equipment consultancy – Once products have reached sufficient market share, the center assists customers in choosing the right equipment for their plant. The highest levels of product consistency are achieved by installing the machinery used in the prototyping and initial manufacturing phases.

Powered by state-of-the-art technology

At the heart of the center is Bühler’s advanced extrusion IFS certified extrusion technology. The twin-screw extruder PolyTwin BCTG and the PolyCool cooling die deliver a production capacity of up to one metric ton per hour. The entire production cycle follows HACCP and GMP principles and guidelines.

In addition, the production unit features the most modern downstream equipment. The flexible extrusion setup is suitable for a wide range of food applications such as dry texturization of proteins, wet texturization of proteins, encapsulation of active ingredients, and cooking extrusion of snack products. The multi-purpose cutting device from Holac cuts wet texturized proteins into strips, cubes, and chunks. A cryogenic zip roll from Air Liquide is installed for the rapid freezing of wet textures preserving product characteristics at the highest level. Special applications can be catered for on-demand.

Additional services

The comprehensive offering is complemented by extensive laboratory services such as chemical, microbiological, and physical analytics of raw materials and analytics of extruded products including particle size distribution, texture analysis, thermal analysis, and microscopic analysis on different length scales. The center also offers consultancy services concerning the development and process design of extruded food products.

The Technology Center Proteins of the Future is situated at the DIL at the Food Science and Technology Campus Artland in Quakenbrück, host to over 250 scientists and technologists and a growing number of spin-offs and start-up businesses developing solutions that improve food safety and quality as well as technology enterprises.

“Scale it up Innovation Challenge”

The opening of the center is accompanied by the “Scale it up Innovation Challenge” jointly set up by Bühler, Cargill, and Givaudan to foster new innovations and solutions to close the protein gap. Start-ups can use the unique infrastructure from DIL and the partners to scale up their product innovations. More news will follow soon on social media accounts of Bühler, Cargill, and Givaudan.

Bühler’s commitment to a more sustainable future

The center’s launch is in line with Bühler’s ongoing commitment to a sustainable future. “The launch of the Technology Center Proteins of the Future is an important part of our focus on environmentally friendly food production for a growing world population and supports our efforts to achieve our sustainability goals,” says Stefan Scheiber. “I believe it will make a significant contribution towards a more sustainable future.”