Swedish cooperative Lantmännen officially inaugurated yesterday a new biorefinery in Norrköping, Sweden, designed to extract wheat protein, known as gluten.
In an announcement, Lantmännen said that it invested SEK 800 million in the new facility and hired 30 new employees to increase its production significantly to meet demand, as more businesses discover new uses for the 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,” said Lars-Gunnar Edh, Head of Energy Sector, Lantmännen.
Another milestone
Lantmännen is an agricultural cooperative owned by over 19,000 Swedish farmers with operations in over 20 countries and an annual turnover of over €4.5 billion.
Swedish farmers provide raw wheat directly from arable land, allowing for the quality of the material, production capacity, and extracted wheat protein to be kept at a consistently high level, with no intermediaries involved, explains Lantmännen.
The cooperative, which also produces oat proteins concentrates, recently added two new products to its PrOtein line developed for premium meat analogs and to enhance protein content across multiple applications.
Last year, Lantmännen announced a cooperation with mycelium-based protein food tech Mycorena, to create fungi-based protein sources and ingredients by upcycling food waste.
“Through this investment, we strengthen the robustness of Swedish food production and increase export opportunities while creating additional value from Swedish arable land and our members’ farms. This is yet another important milestone in Lantmännen’s strategy from field to fork,” said Magnus Kagevik, President & CEO of Lantmännen.
