€50 million investment enables BENEO to extend its footprint into the fast-growing market for sustainably produced plant-based protein ingredients
BENEO, one of the leading manufacturers of functional ingredients, has announced a €50 million investment in a new pulse processing site in Offstein, Germany. The site will produce protein rich pulse ingredients for food and animal feed. It will focus initially on protein concentrate, starch-rich flour and hulls from faba bean, with the option to process other pulses in the future. The new production site further strengthens the company’s plant-based protein portfolio and enables BENEO to meet growing demand for plant-based food and feed ingredients.
The plant-based protein trend is here to stay. It is predicted that by 2027, plant proteins will constitute 75% of the alternative protein ingredient demandi, while products using these proteins are expected to reach approximately 10% CAGR between 2020-2027ii. Pulses such as faba bean are rising star ingredients in product launches worldwide, having achieved a CAGR of 20% between 2016-2021iii.
Throughout BENEO’s entire supply chain sustainability is top of mind. Pulses help to reduce green house gas emissions at farm level. For example, faba beans provide nitrogen for themselves and subsequent plants, which reduces fertilizer requirements. Moreover, BENEO strives to source faba beans at Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) Gold level from German farmers. Manufacturing faba bean protein concentrate, starch-rich flour, and hulls for both food and animal feed, the crop will be fully used and completely valorized for functional ingredients. Furthermore, the production process has been chosen for its low energy consumption in comparison to alternative processes; overall contributing to BENEO’s carbon neutrality and sustainability targets.
Work has already begun on constructing the plant and is expected to be completed within the second half of 2024, creating up to 25 jobs at the Offstein site. However, to ensure that food and feed customers can benefit as soon as possible from faba bean ingredients, BENEO will process the raw ingredients in intermediate production facilities, until the new plant is fully operational. This means that first quantities of BENEO’s Faba bean ingredients will be available from the start of June 2022 onwards.
BENEO’s faba bean protein concentrate and starch-rich-flour will be used for protein-enrichment and texture improvement in meat and dairy alternatives, as well as bakery and cereals. Faba bean hulls and starch-rich flour will be used in feed as a vegetal protein or fibre source for sustainable petfood, aquafeed and livestock nutrition.
Christoph Boettger, Member of the Executive Board at BENEO: “The recent investment by BENEO into a new pulse production site is only the starting point. We strongly believe in plant-based ingredients and therefore see the new plant as an important first step in enlarging our protein offering moving forwards. This will enable us to produce a wider variety of sustainable plant-based protein ingredients over the coming years.”
i Ebner Stolz Management Consultants GmbH (September 2021)
ii Ebner Stolz Management Consultants GmbH (September 2021)
iii Mintel GNPD, global search for fava bean flour and proteins in the categories: snacks, bakery, breakfast cereals, dairy and meat substitutes, date of search: 22/12/2021