Inside BENEO’s new pulse plant: pioneering sustainable protein from faba beans
Ground-breaking in spring 2024; opening planned for 2025
GEA is investing EUR 18 million ($20 million) in a technology centre for alternative proteins in the state of Wisconsin, USA. The new food tech hub will pilot microbial, cell-based and plant-based foods. GEA’s state-of-the-art technologies and a team of biotechnology experts form the basis for scaling new food for industrial production, which is increasingly in demand in the USA. Groundbreaking at the new GEA campus in Janesville is scheduled for the spring of 2024, with the opening to follow one year later.
The USA is one of the countries promoting the development of sustainable food options through favourable regulation and openness to innovative food technologies. For example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already approved cell-cultivated chicken meat in 2022 and last year confirmed that the use of precision-fermented milk proteins in foods is safe.
“Several new food pioneers in the USA are already writing innovation history. When it comes to industrial production, the market is still on the starting blocks. GEA’s new food centre bridges a gap in the innovation landscape, driving forward the development of complementary proteins through technology,” says Dr Reimar Gutte, Senior Vice President of Liquid and Fermentation Technologies, leading New Food at GEA.