Bühler Group’s Insect Technology Center (ITC) has opened. The group aims to advance the development oft he industry for human and animal food products.
The ITC was financially supported by from Switzerland’s Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) in order to contribute to a sustainable food production. Customers obtain the opportunity to try and watch larvae growth within different feedstock, develop samples, improve and find solutions as well as train its employees.
Bühler tries to contribute to a more sustainable food system. The use of insect protein is a great possibility to reach this aim. According to experts, insect proteins amount to half a million tonnes in 2030. The pet food industry will obtain 30% of all insect protein while the aquaculture will be 40%. The waste can also be used as fertilizer so that one does not have to throw anything away.
“The opening of the Insect Technology Center is a major milestone in our journey,” said Andreas Baumann, head of Market Segment Insect Technology at Bühler. “Over the last years, we have gained expertise and maturity to serve different customers in the insect industry with the most adequate and reliable solutions. With our new facility, we extend our services and can even better support our customers in installing an industrial insect plant.”
Customers can conduct experiments with the two popular insect species black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) and mealworms. Attention should be paid to the two insect growth chambers in the ITC, where insect can grow under industrial production conditions.
“A company that wants to build an industrial insect plant needs to cover several operational aspects,” Baumann said. “It includes finding the correct feedstock to rear the larvae, making sure that there is a strong and suitable insect strain to grow, defining suitable climate settings in relation to the larvae growth cycle, or getting emission data required for the permitting process.”
Bühler itself also conducts tests to contribute to. new products on the insect market.
All these topics are essential for a successful insect plant project and can be addressed in Bühler’s new ITC. In addition to the services offered to customers, Bühler’s team will run its own tests, striving to continuously improve the technology and services for the insect market.
“In combination with the operational know-how exchange, we see enormous potential to reduce the overall time from the project idea to a successfully performing plant,” Baumann said.
An opportunity to visit the ITC are the Bühler Networking Days 2022.
Read the original article here – petfoodprocessing.net
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