GEA Expands Food and Biotech Capabilities with New German Facility
GEA has moved its application and technology centre (ATC) for food and biotechnology from Hildesheim to Sarstedt in Lower Saxony, Germany. The centre, operational since 2023, incorporates three years of pilot projects and customer work into its ongoing operations in Sarstedt. This facility aids companies in developing and testing pilot-scale production processes, including precision fermentation and cell cultivation.
GEA invested €4 million in converting and equipping the existing building at the Sarstedt site, which has developed expertise in beverages, liquid dairy, and new food over several decades. Approximately 200 employees work in engineering, sales, automation, and service roles at this location, with the ATC adding about 40 more colleagues.
The relocation to Sarstedt aligns new food and biotechnology activities with established engineering and process capabilities. This allows customers to engage with GEA teams throughout the process, from early pilot trials to full industrial plant design. Klaus Stojentin, CEO of GEA's Nutrition Plant Engineering Division, emphasized the importance of infrastructure and engineering expertise in enabling the transition of promising processes to viable industrial applications.
Precision fermentation and cell cultivation, often associated with alternative proteins, have broader applications. These biotechnological processes can produce proteins, enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, flavors, and other functional ingredients for various sectors. The design of these processes depends on the organism, product, and target application.
The new food sector's progress has been slower than predicted due to factors like financing, regulation, production costs, and scale-up challenges. For GEA, a key question is the safe, reliable, and economical transition of biotech processes from the lab to industrial use.
GEA's new facility does not aim to replace conventional food production but rather to create additional production pathways for specific ingredients. These pathways are particularly valuable in scenarios where climate risks, animal health pressures, raw material shortages, or supply chain fragility affect existing systems.
Representatives from industry and biotechnology attended the facility's opening to discuss Europe's role in building stronger scale-up pathways. Participants included the Biotechnology Fermentation Factory in the Netherlands and Solar Foods in Finland, both engaged in advancing fermentation-based protein production.
