Swedish cooperative Lantmannen yesterday officially opened a new biorefinery in Norrkoping, Sweden, designed to extract the wheat protein known as gluten.
In an announcement, Lantmannen said it invested SEK 800 million in the new facility and hired 30 new employees to significantly increase production to meet demand. As more businesses discover new uses for gluten as an ingredient.
“The demand for Swedish wheat protein is high both nationally and internationally. It is very positive that we can offer more customers our high-quality wheat protein,” says Lars-Günner Ed, Head of Energy Sector, Lantmannen.
Another milestone
Lantmannen is an agricultural cooperative owned by more than 19,000 Swedish farmers with operations in more than 20 countries and an annual turnover of more than 4.5 billion euros.
Swedish farmers supply the raw wheat directly from the arable land, thereby keeping the quality of the material, the productivity and the protein of the harvested wheat at a consistently high level, with no middlemen in between, Lantmannen explains.
The cooperative, which also produces oat protein concentrate, recently added two new products to its protein line for premium meat analogs and to improve protein content across multiple applications.
last year, country man Mycelium-based protein food tech has announced a collaboration with Mycorena to develop fungal-based protein sources and ingredients by upcycling food waste.
“With this investment, we strengthen the strength of Swedish food production and increase export opportunities by creating added value from Swedish arable land and our members’ farms. This is another important milestone in Lantmann’s strategy from field to fork,” said Magnus Kagevik, President and CEO of Lantmannen.