Bühler Group and Germany’s Hosokawa Alpine Group have signed an agreement for the collaborative production of plant protein products. 

Bühler offers solutions for the intake to grinding of pulses, and further processing with its extrusion technology, which texturises plant proteins into products with fibrous texture similar to meat. Hosokawa adds its technology for the dry separation of pulses’ protein: fine grinding and air classification. The combination of Bühler’s upstream pulses process and Hosokawa’s process for size reduction and classification produces what the companies say is the highest yields of high value protein concentrates. 

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

Dr Antonio Fernández, Chairman of the Executive Board at Hosokawa Alpine said: “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.” 

The market for sustainable proteins has been growing significantly over the last years, fueled by end consumers demanding more sustainable proteins. “With this cooperation, we can address customer needs from the harvest to the final product,” said Andreas Risch, Head of Special Grains & Pulses at Bühler. 

The companies have been working together in different projects and industries since the 1980s, and apart from this cooperation agreement, both companies will continue to market their solutions independently through their own existing distribution channels.