Swiss Bühler Group and machine and plant manufacturer Hosokawa Alpine Group from Germany have entered a strategic partnership to scale the production of sustainable plant protein solutions based on pulses. 

As an expert in pulses processing, Bühler offers solutions for the intake, cleaning, dehulling and grinding of pulses. It will also facilitate the further food processing using its extrusion technology, which texturizes plant-based proteins into products with a fibrous texture similar to meat.

Hosokawa Alpine complements the production process by adding its technology for the dry separation of pulses’ protein – fine grinding and air classification.

Producing the highest yields
The combination of Bühler’s upstream pulses process and Hosokawa’s process for size reduction and classification is claimed to produce the highest yields of protein concentrates.

“With this cooperation, we can address customer needs from the harvest to the final product. We operate in an integrated and collaborative way to ensure a seamless experience for our customers,” says Andreas Risch, head of special grains & pulses at Bühler.

“This starts with our application centers in Uzwil, Switzerland, and the brand-new Food Application Center in Minneapolis, US, created to develop new methods of transforming pulses and grains into tasty new food solutions,” he details.

“They are complemented by Hosokawa Alpine’s facilities in Augsburg, Germany, all of them being available for customer trials. Our collaboration goes through to commissioning and services ensuring high-quality outputs for our customers.”

Building upon historical tie-ups
Besides this latest partnership agreement, Bühler and Hosokawa Alpine have been working together in different projects and industries since the 1980s. 

Apart from this cooperation agreement, both companies will continue to market their solutions independently through their own existing distribution channels.

Last January, Bühler teamed up with flavor giant Givaudan to jointly launch a Protein Innovation Centre for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, targeting plant-based development.

In the same month, Bühler also partnered with German food science researchers at the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL) to propel the sustainable production of healthy extruded meat substitutes. 

Could pulses be the key to reducing greenhouse gases?
The market for sustainable proteins has been growing significantly over the last years, fueled by end consumers demanding more sustainable proteins.

Pulses – such as peas, lentils, fava beans and chickpeas – are among industry’s most significant sources of plant protein that pull nitrogen from the air to create their own fertilizer, removing the need for nitrogen fertilizers, which drive greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to their attractive environmental credentials, pulses are high in protein, vitamins and minerals, which makes them an excellent meat substitute.

As highlighted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), pulses have a higher selling price than other staple crops, offering a vital cash crop opportunity to smallholder farmers.

“By working with Bühler, we can fully realize the potential of the value chain. With our combined technologies, we meet the market requirements in the best possible way and drive developments in the process chain forward,” says Dr. Antonio Fernández, chairman of the executive board at Hosokawa Alpine.

“Hosokawa Alpine will be our preferred partner for integrated solutions for our customers that are processing sustainable proteins,” comments Johannes Wick, CEO Bühler Grains & Food.

“Thanks to their vast expertise in protein extraction, we can now cover the entire value chain for plant-based protein – from any kind of pulses to dry extrudates ready for consumption.”

Ultimately, with this partnership, the companies will be able to offer customers process technology and expertise along the complete “field-to-fork” pulses protein chain.