Swiss technology group Bühler unveils its new food innovation hub in Uzwil, Switzerland, bringing together a diverse range of capabilities into a single location and setting a new stage for product and process development. Four Application & Training Centers (ATCs) – Flavor Creation Center, Food Creation Center, Protein Application Center, and Energy Recovery Center – opens their doors to customers and complement the existing ATCs, such as the Extrusion Application Center. The new ATCs connect the entire value chain and enable a circular economy approach to food production. With Bühler’s cutting-edge infrastructure and team of experts, customers have the ideal environment to master market changes and design the food of the future.
“In this world where requirements are changing so fast, customers need flexibility and creativity to adapt their products addressing key issues such as sustainability, the use of local raw materials, healthy diets, and affordability,” says Johannes Wick, CEO of Grains & Food at Bühler Group. “With the completion of the new Application & Training Centers we are able to cover the entire scope of production, from different raw materials to multiple types of finished products. We can offer our customers enormous flexibility and the options they need to disrupt their markets.”
Bühler has Application & Training Centers in 23 locations around the world – some of which cover multiple industrial applications – offering dedicated training for customers and providing them with a collaborative platform to test new product ideas and experiment with product innovations. Over the last years, Bühler’s global network of application centers has expanded, bringing together new business partners, academy, start-ups, and suppliers, with the goal of offering a state-of-the-art setup for customers to drive innovation. In October, along with the Institute of Food Technology (Ital), the FoodTech HUB Latam, Cargill, and Givaudan, Bühler opened the Tropical Food Innovation Lab in Brazil. This innovation ecosystem develops sustainable food and beverages while promoting biodiversity in Brazil.
ENABLING INNOVATION THROUGH SYNERGIES
With the opening of the new Flavor Creation Center, Food Creation Center, Protein Application Center, and Energy Recovery Center, together with the Application & Training Centers already in operation in Uzwil, this site has become a one-stop shop for Bühler’s customers worldwide. “The opening of the Application & Training Centers is a milestone in our journey to support our customers and partners, to create a more sustainable food system,” says Ian Roberts, CTO at Bühler Group. “At the new ATCs customers have access to a unique combination of technology and expertise.”
The new Protein Application Center provides field to ingredient and consumer product process solutions under one roof. The center will enable the buildup of know-how and foster the development of processes for the production of plant-based food, including meat substitutes, plant-based drinks and ingredients. Equipped with the latest wet isolation and fractionation techniques for separation of protein, starches, and fibers, the center is operated in collaboration with Bühler’s partner, endeco, and will connect the Grain Innovation Center, Extrusion Application Center, Pasta Application Center, Food Creation Center, Flavor Creation Center, and Energy Recovery Center.
The Extrusion Application Center, which runs 80 to 90 trials per year, will link closely into the new Protein Application Center enabling a unique opportunity to optimize the full process solution from raw materials through consumer products. In this multi-purpose laboratory customers can conduct tests on food and animal feed, test new recipes, product shapes, and textures.
At the Flavor Creation Center, Bühler’s proven expertise in processing, roasting and grinding cocoa beans, nuts, and coffee is combined in one place to create unmatched flavors and exquisite products. The center, which has been processing coffee since 2013 and cocoa and nuts since 2022, has been upgraded and renovated. It offers product innovation, training, process optimization, raw material analyses and operates in line with Bühler’s Chocolate Application Center, Food Creation Center, and Energy Recovery Center.