Bühler, a multinational company headquartered in Switzerland specialising in processing equipment for food and advanced materials, announced a partnership with the German Institute for Food Technology (DIL) with a special focus on plant-based proteins.

For Bühler, it's a business goal as well as an environmental one. Figures provided by Bühler show that in the next 30 years we will have to produce more food with 35% less agricultural land, to make room for a growing population that is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050.

For the food industry, that basically means doing more (much more) with less. "It is essential to explore and identify alternative and underused sources of protein and develop efficient technologies to convert these into attractive, marketable products," the company says. "Consumer demand for sustainable and healthy food products has been growing in recent years, underlining the opportunity for the food industry to make a positive impact."

Plant-based diets have the potential of being more sustainable. But it's not just about producing more high protein plant food. Consumers want meat analogues that mimic the nutritional profile, taste and texture of animal meat.

The goal of the partnership between Bühler and DIL is to innovate on this aspect, by focusing on extrusion, a food processing technology that modifies the molecular structure of proteins, changing different textures.
Ian Roberts, chief technology officer, Bühler, said: “If we are to feed 10 billion people in 2050 and if we are to be able to do this and mitigate the climate change increase that we currently see, we need to build strong partnerships with purpose and we need to build those in areas where we can drive major impact.”

"With Bühler's expertise in extrusion, but also in other engineering disciplines, such as milling, plant proteins, and powder handlings, we will be able to provide new and customized solutions for our clients and for the rapidly changing market,” said Volker Lammers, head of Research Platform Process Engineering, DIL. “With Bühler, we have a competent partner along the full protein value chain.”

The German Institute for Food Technology was founded in 1983 with the goal of transferring knowledge from research to the practice of food production. Its headquarters in Quackenbrück, in the north-west of Germany, comprises of a 6,000 sqm building with mechanical engineering facilities and a test lab for new food technologies. It currently employs 150 people and has over 150 members.