The Science of Alt Protein: From prototype to production — scalable technologies for protein texturization

Event description

The texture and taste of plant-based meat alternatives are key attributes for consumers’ acceptance. Additionally, a high level of manufacturing efficiency is required to make products affordable and successful in the long term. The transfer from prototyping to production scale is often recognized as a major challenge. Particularly, high-capacity solutions for the texturization of plant proteins using high moisture extrusion have long been considered a bottleneck. This talk will focus on a step-by-step approach to the development and process design of meat analogues. Robust extruder solutions at throughput rates of up to one metric ton per hour will be presented. Furthermore, industrial-scale methods downstream of the extruder are illustrated, including cutting, shaping, and marinating. Tasty examples of successful implementation will be provided.

Meet the speaker

Dr. Volker Lammers

HEAD OF PROCESS ENGINEERING, DIL TECHNOLOGIE GMBH

Dr. Volker Lammers is a food engineer with a focus on the development and implementation of innovative technologies for the sustainable production of high-quality foods. He studied Food Technology and Biotechnology at the TU Munich and completed his master’s course in 2011. Between 2012 and 2016, Volker worked as a research assistant at ETH Zurich, where he received his Ph.D. at the Laboratory of Food Process Engineering. In 2016, he joined the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL e.V.) and currently leads the Process Engineering Department. The group focuses on industry-ready solutions in the field of extrusion, 3D printing, and other texturization technologies for plant proteins.