Agrana announces €25m investment in Austrian plant capacity

Austrian food company Agrana has announced a €25 million investment in additional capacity at its three starch factories. 

The Agrana plant in Gmünd began receiving deliveries of starch potatoes last month, while wet corn processing has been underway in Aschach/Donau and Pischeldorf since 15 September. 

Agrana’s plant in Gmünd is Austria’s only potato starch factory and the current investment for the existing site stands at €12 million to expand its drying facilities. The investment involves building a spraying tower – a drying plant for infant formula, maltodextrin and dried glucose syrup – in addition to installing a drum-drying plant for dehydrated potato products.

The starch potato campaign in Gmünd is estimated to last around 130 days, with completion in early January. Approximately 250,000 metric tons have been contracted for this coming season. 

Agrana is currently investing around €13 million at its Aschach site to expand its capacity for processing special corn varieties. A total of around 500,000 metric tons of corn – with the gradual introduction of more special corn varieties such as waxy and organic corn – are processed annually at the Aschach plant.

The wet corn campaign at the facilities in Aschach/Donau and Pischelsdorf is forecast to last until the middle of December.