Groupe Minoteries and Hosokawa Alpine:
With plant-based mince for the award
"Explorer of the Year 2023" - that's what the plant-based mince Protaneo can call itself. Every year, the Swiss branded goods association Promarca awards this title to the most surprising and innovative product. Behind the healthy meat alternative made from regional field beans and yellow peas is a joint venture between three Swiss companies, including Groupe Minoteries SA (GMSA) in the canton of Vaud. The fact that GMSA is able to produce the plant mince is thanks to the Augsburg-based machine and plant manufacturer Hosokawa Alpine. It supplied a grinding and classifying system to obtain protein-rich extrudates from the pulses.
The Swiss milling group Groupe Minoteries (GMSA), headquartered in Granges-près-Marnand, was founded in 1885 and is today one of the leading players in Switzerland in the fields of cereals and plant products. Over 130,000 tonnes of grain were processed at the company's various locations in 2022. Around 180 employees ensure that GMSA can supply products to bakeries, catering, industry, wholesale and retail throughout Switzerland. The company sees itself as a link between millers and bakers and is committed to making life healthier, simpler and more sustainable. Plant-based proteins are an important part of this mission, as vegetarian or vegan diets are also playing an increasingly important role in Switzerland. As an introduction to a plant-based diet, people often look for meat-like products that are orientated towards their previous eating habits, such as vegan Bolognese.[1] This is exactly where GMSA comes in: a plant-based "mince" called Protaneo aims to encourage as many Swiss people as possible to switch to a plant-based, more sustainable and healthier diet.
Protaneo: 100% Swiss, from the field to the plate
And something else was important to GMSA: the plant mince should be produced in Switzerland using exclusively Swiss ingredients. With previous plant-based protein sources, the raw materials were always imported. However, this contradicted the target group's sustainability claim and also that of GMSA. A plant-based source of protein that is produced entirely in Switzerland, from the field to the plate: that was GMSA's vision. A new production process, not yet available in Switzerland, was set to make this happen.
In its search for a partner for the development and technological implementation of the process, GMSA found what it was looking for in Hosokawa Alpine, a German mechanical engineering company with a branch in the Swiss canton of St Gallen. The company specialises in powder processing systems and has extensive experience in the field of protein shifting: a process that produces protein-rich concentrates from plant products such as pulses. These then serve as the basis for all kinds of plant-based products - including vegan mince and ragout. "The decision was made in favour of Hosokawa Alpine because the company has a high level of expertise in the product and process. Alpine was also best able to fulfil our specifications," says Valérie Vincent, Head of Innovation at GMSA, explaining the reasons for the collaboration with the German mechanical engineering company.
Grinding and classifying of yellow peas and field beans
The system developed by Hosokawa Alpine especially for GMSA consists of two systems, centred around the ZPS 315 classifier mill and the ATP 315 air classifier. They ensure that yellow peas and field beans are turned into a protein concentrate and a starch-rich by-product in the desired fineness. While the protein concentrate serves as the basis for Protaneo and other meat substitute products, the high-starch flour is used in baking mixes for bakeries and pasta, among other things.
The grinding system around the ZPS classifier mill consists of dosing, metal separator, the mill itself, a filter, blower and explosion protection. The end product of ultra-fine grinding is a highly digested flour. This is followed by the classifying process with the ATP high-performance classifier. It uses air separation to separate the pea or field bean meal into a protein-rich and a starch-rich fraction. The air classifier for ultra-fine classifying can be designed as a single-wheel or multi-wheel classifier. In the version with a next-generation classifier wheel, separation tasks in fineness ranges up to d97 = 2 µm (d50 = 0.3 µm) are possible. Thanks to this outstanding precision work, the Alpine Turboplex ATP can maximise protein content and yield in the classifying step. It also proved to be the ideal solution for GMSA due to its small footprint.
Together with the downstream extrusion process, these two systems form a separate production unit for Protaneo.
Confined spaces require special explosion protection measures
The Hosokawa Alpine team faced a number of challenges when planning the system. Above all, it was important to GMSA that the plant would deliver a product with a high protein content and a high extraction rate. With a compact design, it should be able to process high throughputs. In addition, the new production line was to be integrated into the existing central control system. But the challenges were not only of a technical nature: "The building in which we were to install our system is a little older and the space was a little cramped. This made the engineering very complex," says Martin Huthöfer, Managing Director at Hosokawa Alpine Switzerland. "But our systems are customised for our customers and, of course, spatial conditions are also taken into account." Hosokawa Alpine also realised special explosion protection for the milling plant for GMSA. "We installed a quick-closing slide valve as additional explosion protection between the ZPS classifier mill and the filter, as a relatively long pipe had to be selected due to the limited space available," continues Huthöfer.
This joint overcoming of challenges and the close cooperation with Hosokawa Alpine are just two aspects that GMSA would like to highlight. "The commissioning worked efficiently and without any major problems thanks to the competent specialists from Hosokawa Alpine. We are very satisfied with the protein concentrate that we can produce with this system," says Valérie Vincent.
Will Protaneo be a success for GMSA and Hosokawa Alpine?
The plant started production in December 2023 and, for GMSA, primarily represents a new activity to further diversify its range and open up a new business segment. Even if there are currently no plans for further projects with Hosokawa Alpine, this could change quickly if Protaneo is well received by the target group. "If this new business develops as hoped, an increase in production capacity will be necessary," says Vincent, looking to the future. The "Explorer of the Year" award is already pointing in the right direction.