Beneo, a manufacturer of functional ingredients for food, feed, and pharmaceuticals, has opened its first pulse processing plant after a year and a half of construction in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. The opening was made possible through an investment from parent company Südzucker Group of nearly $65 million. The site will process faba beans into ingredients for food and feed production.

An inauguration ceremony was held on April 11 and was attended by Daniela Schmitt, minister of economic affairs of Rhineland-Palatinate; Johannes Steiniger, member of the German Bundestag; Nicole Eicher, mayor of Obrigheim; Niels Pörksen, DSc, CEO of Südzucker Group; Olivier Roques, CEO of Beneo; Niels E. Hower, executive board member of Beneo; and Dirk Dinger, chairman of the works council of the Obrigheim plant.

“BENEO’s new plant represents a strong commitment to Rhineland-Palatinate as a business hub. At the same time, the investment is driving innovation in the food industry and strengthening regional value creation. Future-oriented projects like this secure jobs, promote sustainable economic activity and strengthen rural areas,” said Schmitt.

25 new jobs will be created at the plant, which is located next to an existing Beneo site where its sugar replacer Isomalt and its Palatinose isomaltulose ingredients are produced. The area is about 4,000 square meters, or half the size of a soccer field. The plant will run entirely on renewable energy sources, with additional power generated from a rooftop photovoltaic system. Waste heat from production will be used to heat the building, and pulse processing requires no water.

The site will operate with a zero-waste approach, with all raw materials utilized as ingredients for the food and animal feed industries. The faba bean itself plays a role in sustainable agriculture, as it requires no nitrogen fertilizer and can enhance the quality of soil for future crops. Beneo’s faba beans are grown in close proximity to the production plant and are RedCert² certified, which is equivalent to the Farm Sustainability Assessment from the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative at the highest “gold” level.

“What began more than 30 years ago with the processing of beet sugar into ingredients with added health benefits is now being continued at the new plant,” said Hower. “The faba bean is a legume with a long history. Here in Obrigheim, we will process it into high-quality, plant-based ingredients that will contribute to future-proofed nutrition.”

“Feeding a steadily growing world population in a sustainable way is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges of our generation,” said Pörksen. “The Südzucker Group pursues the vision of contributing to a healthy and sustainable world worth living in, and one of the many ways we are doing this is by investing in the expansion of our plant-based protein division. Today is therefore an important milestone for us.”