Interviews

Ohly: “The New Fermentation Plant Uses the Latest Innovative Technology to Increase Production Capacity by Up to 50%”

This summer, Ohly, a yeast-based specialty manufacturer, announced the opening of a new state-of-the-art fermentation plant in Hamburg to meet rising demand for fermentation-derived products. The facility will follow the latest hygiene design standards for sustainable cleaning and feature a heat recovery system that conserves enough energy to power nearly 800 homes annually.

Rüdiger Briel, Project Lead for the new fermentation facility, and Daria Pashkova, Product & Marketing Manager for the Ohly taste & texture portfolio, here discuss the new facility in detail and describe the plant-based solutions that it will manufacture.

Ohly announced the new fermentation facility in early August, with plans for it to open next year. How far along are you in the construction and setup process, and how did the overnight transport of the new fermentation plant go?
Rüdiger Briel: It was quite a sight to witness a 400-ton mobile crane and a 30m heavy load truck manoeuvring two commercial fermenters through the streets of Hamburg city centre. Due to their exceptional size, the transport had to take a special route passing by the harbour and along the famous Reeperbahn.

On arrival, the fermenters were carefully lifted and guided into position in the new fermentation plant at the heart of the Ohly site.

With the lifting in of the fermenters, which are the heart of the facility, the project has successfully reached an important milestone. The next steps will be closing the roof and making the building finally watertight in Q4.

Ohly new fermentation plant
© Ohly

Ohly’s new fermentation plant is described as one of the most modern and largest in Europe. With the growing demand for yeast-based ingredients in the alternative protein industry, how does Ohly plan to scale production at the new facility while maintaining the quality and consistency needed for this market?
RB:
The new fermentation plant, thought to be one of the largest and most modern in Europe, uses the latest innovative technology to increase production capacity by up to 50%. The new plant will adopt the latest hygiene standards which guarantee sustainable cleaning. It also meets the highest level of occupational safety, thanks to automated systems which facilitate ergonomic operation. With a digital and automated control system, all production processes are controlled and measured bringing Ohly another step closer to Industry 4.0. Our focus is on ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees while maintaining the highest levels of product quality – digitisation is key.

“Ohly harnesses the functional potential of natural yeast to deliver high umami impact”

Ensuring a reliable and secure supply chain is vital to Ohly’s customer commitment. These investments in state-of-the-art fermentation and spray drying facilities, together with Ohly’s robust supply chain management practices and strategic partnerships, are designed to minimise disruptions and guarantee product availability.

How does Ohly’s expertise in fermentation and yeast derivatives help address challenges like off-flavors or texture issues often encountered in plant-based products?
Daria Pashkova:
Ohly is one of the world´s leading suppliers of yeast-based ingredients. With state-of-art research and application centers, Ohly uses its wealth of expertise to delight its customers with innovative functional ingredient solutions for taste and mouthfeel improvement, flavour modulation, off-note masking, and sodium reduction.

Plant proteins in alternative meat and dairy products can often cause unappealing earthy, beany, bitter tastes, and lacking perception of juiciness in meat and creaminess in dairy alternatives. The rich umami and savoury taste impact of yeast extract is ideal for masking off-note, creating a perception of juiciness and fattiness, and bringing out spices and meaty tastes in plant protein-based products.

Ohly harnesses the functional potential of natural yeast to deliver high umami impact, create a true meaty taste, and mask any undesirable off-notes from plant proteins. Ohly also makes sure that your products have that juicy and fatty mouthfeel of meat, which can be so hard to replicate. Our solutions deliver high impact at low usage levels.

Ohly fermentator in transport
© Ohly

What specific yeast-based ingredients does Ohly offer that are particularly suited for enhancing flavor and texture in plant-based food products?
DP: Under the brands OHLY® and PROVESTA® Ohly offers various taste and mouthfeel improvement solutions – ideal for plant-based recipes.

OHLY® FLAV-R-MAX, for instance, has a high natural 5′-nucleotide content and provides a reliable solution for masking off-note and delivering rounded umami to plant protein-based products. It effectively brings out flavour and taste at levels starting at 0.01%. Having a uniquely clean taste of its own, OHLY® FLAV-R-MAX can be used in a wide range of applications to bring out delicate flavour notes. Recently, we have launched a new addition OHLY® FLAV-R-MAX 19. This product brings depth and complex taste to a wide range of applications including plant proteins while masking off-note and delivering long-lasting taste impact.

Ohly’s application experts will help customers find the right solution for their next innovation.

Given the growing importance of clean-label ingredients in the plant-based sector, how do your yeast extracts align with the demand for natural, minimally processed ingredients in this space?
DP: Yeast extract is a natural ingredient that is produced from fermented Baker’s or Torula yeast. Due to natural processes of autolysis or hydrolysis, the yeast cells are broken down into smaller pieces. In the end, the cell wall is removed resulting in a yeast extract with a combination of amino acids and nucleotides of natural origin creating a unique umami taste. Umami helps to create complex taste sensations in dishes by adding depth, richness and balance, rounding off the overall flavour without overwhelming other tastes. So yeast extracts are a natural and label-friendly alternative to artificial additives, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG).




>> Click here to go to Cultivated X where you will see a familiar layout and a focus solely on content regarding cellular agriculture, including fermentation-enabled products, and with more granular categories.

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