At ANDRITZ, we focus on plant-based proteins, insects and side streams, esp. animal residues. We partner with our customers to design and engineer tailored solutions that meet their needs, depending on the raw material, conditions on the customer site, and the desired quality of the end-product. With more than 170 years engineering experience, multiple delivered solutions in feed and food and the broadest portfolio in industry, we are up for every challenge.
Product Home Manager Alternative Protein Solutions
ANDRITZ Separation GmbH
In these days when feeding the growing world population is becoming a major challenge, there is an increasing interest in sustainable alternative resources and efficient use of existing resources. Andritz is one of the companies that has increased its efforts towards these resources. The company focuses heavily on plant-based protein sources, insect proteins and side streams that are considered waste. Technologies for the processing of these resources and their use in human and animal nutrition are realized with Andritz’s engineering expertise. Dr. Christian Kling, Product Home Manager Alternative Protein Solutions at ANDRITZ Separation GmbH, highlights both the importance of alternative proteins in human and animal nutrition, and Andritz’s solutions for processing these sources and the role of technology in scaling alternative protein production.
Mr. Kling, we have to talk more and more every day about how to feed the growing world population. How much do you think alternative proteins, which are highlighted as alternatives or supplements to animal proteins and described as promising, can contribute to feeding the world population?
Feeding the growing global population currently is a core challenge and it will be in future. Most important is to find sustainable ways to increase protein availability. Using alternative proteins to produce replacements for meat is a well-known example. This already is a large market with a huge growth potential. Still, this does not meet the demand of consumers looking for meat in their diet, esp. in the areas with high population growth rates where the consumption per capita is lower compared to the Western world. This drives a strong demand for sustainable alternative protein sources. ANDRITZ focuses on plant-based sources (i.e. peas and pulses or oilseed crops), insect proteins and side streams (i.e. animal residues or spent grains) as most relevant and impactful. We are working on more efficient and sustainable technologies, that deliver more nutritious and functional proteins, which are needed to meet the demand in feed and food industry.
Alternative proteins cover many different protein groups, from insect-based proteins to microalgae, cell-based meats to plant-based proteins. Which of these groups do you think will achieve a faster development and growth in the coming years?
Plant based proteins are already available in feed and food, esp. pea and soy proteins on different levels of maturity. More differentiating sources will come to the market, like fava, chickpea, hemp, or canola.
Using insects as a source for proteins is a relatively recent development in feed and pet food; and we still see a certain reluctance from consumers. Nevertheless, insects are a great opportunity to valorize side streams and upcycle these to proteins, thus allowing to grow the protein availability without the need for additional resources. We see a bright future for insect protein.
Cultured / cell-based meat has a very high potential as well, despite regulatory approval often still pending at the moment, the production processes are at their infancy, still extremely expensive as pharma-grade raw materials are needed. Reducing the cost of production is needed. At the same time, the supply of raw materials and fermenters is not there yet. And finally, broad consumer acceptance and improved sustainability footprint on industrial scale needs to be validated. For ANDRITZ, cell-based meats provide a high future potential on the mid- to long-term.
The use of alternative protein and circular economy concepts in the same sentence is increasing day by day. Especially when it comes to by-products and waste products… What is the place of the circular economy in the alternative proteins market?
Considering the global protein resources, we need to utilize these resources more efficiently. Therefore, directly utilizing side streams (e.g. spent grains or animal residues) or indirectly (i.e. as feed to grow insects) are great opportunities to increase protein availability and revenue streams.
As ANDRITZ, you have various solutions for different types of alternative protein (e.g. pea-based protein, food waste, insect processing, etc.). Can you tell us about them? At what point does ANDRITZ take place in the alternative protein market, what does it do and what solutions does it offer?
At ANDRITZ, we focus on plant-based proteins, insects and side streams, esp. animal residues. We partner with our customers to design and engineer tailored solutions that meet their needs, depending on the raw material, conditions on the customer site, and the desired quality of the end-product.
With more than 170 years engineering experience, multiple delivered solutions in feed and food and the broadest portfolio in industry, we are up for every challenge. To ensure a smooth process of scaling up production to an industrial scale, ANDRITZ is building a test center in Waddinxveen (NL) to develop, refine, validate, and scale protein processes. As separation experts, we continuously drive the next generation of extraction processes, being more efficient, milder, and delivering more valuable proteins (i.e. better tasting, more nutritious and higher functionality / conversion rate). As extrusion experts, we can also directly transform the protein powders to meat alternatives and in doing so, create higher customer value. Building upon our automation resources and our global service network, we remain a partner to our customers also after plant installation, ensuring uptime and increased performance.
What can you say about your expectations and targets for the alternative proteins market? For example: What is the place of alternative proteins in your future plans?
ANDRITZ sees, that the use of alternative proteins has moved from a trend to reality. Consequently, we have and will further invest in this business, to be the partner of choice for alternative protein producers, from conception of ideas to complete production processes, keeping them running during their lifetime.
In your opinion, what is the place and importance of technology in increasing the production capacity in the alternative protein market and in gaining a real commercial scale for the industry?
Sustainable scaling of production is the key to success for this industry and there is no single process technology that can be applied for all raw materials. Thus, the deciding for the right technology is key. With the industries’ broadest portfolio and the ability to scale and validate in our new test center in Waddinxveen (NL), ANDRITZ is set up to deliver the right solutions for all our customers, knowing they will always be tailored to their needs. We can build on more than 170 years of engineering experience. Our automation competences and constant research and development of new technologies help us to deliver innovative and efficient solutions.
Equally important is the need for milder, but still economic, processes to preserve the nutrition and functionality of proteins. A great example here is the recently developed and launched Turbex, a novel unit operation utilizing the power of cavitation to achieve fast, mild, and efficient extraction. This can also be tested in our new test center in Waddinxveen (NL).
As a company that makes investments in this field, we are pretty sure that you follow the current assets, investments and general developments in the industry closely. Based on your observations here, what kind of development do you estimate the market will show in the coming years?
Most alternative proteins have overcome the peak of inflated expectations (see Gartner Hype Cycle) and now it is time to deliver on scale. At this point, a partner with scaling and execution competence is needed. ANDRITZ fills this gap. We strongly believe in the growth of alternative proteins beyond the level of feed and food markets. They are an essential component to meet the demands of a growing population.
