Beneo to invest €50m in pulse processing plant

Functional ingredient manufacturer Beneo has announced a €50 million investment in a new pulse processing plant in Offstein, Germany.

The site will initially focus on producing protein concentrate, starch-rich flour and hulls from faba bean, fully utilising the crop.

The former two ingredients will be used for protein enrichment and texture improvement in meat and dairy alternatives, and gluten-free bakery products and cereals. Meanwhile, the hulls and some of the flour will be used in animal feed.

Construction work has already begun on the plant and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, creating up to 25 jobs.

According to Beneo, the faba beans will be sourced locally from farmers that are certified by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative.

The company says that it will process the raw ingredients in intermediate production facilities until the new plant is fully operational, meaning that the first batches of its faba bean ingredients will be available from the start of June this year.

Christoph Boettger, member of the executive board at Beneo, said: “The recent investment by Beneo into a new pulse production site is only the starting point”.

“We strongly believe in plant-based ingredients and therefore see the new plant as an important first step in enlarging our protein offering moving forwards. This will enable us to produce a wider variety of sustainable plant-based protein ingredients over the coming years.”

Beneo says that it will have the option of processing other pulses at the plant in the future.