Ziemann Holvrieka and partners receive project funding

How can production systems in the food industry be made more efficient? Automation is often the only solution. Ziemann Holvrieka is now contributing its engineering know-how to the virtASI project. Its goal is to make digitalisation of process engineering faster and simpler. The Bavarian Research Foundation is providing support with a grant of some 703,000 Euros.

Plant engineers and plant operators in the food industry are facing steadily rising prices for raw materials and energy. They also have to deal with increasing complexity and shortages of skilled labor. Moreover, variable market demands are creating problems for producers by requiring greater product variety and reducing lifecycles. The remedy for these problems is automation, because it ensures flexibility and efficiency. Automation also accelerates the development and commissioning of production facilities.

In order to promote faster and simpler digitalisation, Ziemann Holvrieka is participating in a project led by the Chair of Brewing and Beverage Technology at the Technical University of Munich. The project, known by its German abbreviation virtASI (virtual facility planning, simulation and commissioning), is being supported by a grant of approximately 703,000 Euros from the Bavarian Research Foundation. “The purpose is to facilitate automated, model-assisted, virtual engineering in the food industry 4.0 based on modular planning data,” says Tobias Becher, Head of Technology, Research and Development at Ziemann Holvrieka. “Our solution, ‘Module Type Packages’ (MTP), is making a substantial contribution to establishing a standard for automation.” The other participants in the project are the simulation service provider SimPlan from Munich and the technology company Gimbio from Freising.

Costain is working with Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Wales and West Utilities and food and drink manufacturer Princes Group on a feasibility study to produce hydrogen from biogas from the Cardiff East Waste Water Treatment Works that willfuel boilersto provide heat for fruit juice pasteurisation.

The programme is funded through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS)£1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s.

The H2Juice project has been awarded £372,931 of funding from the BEIS£26 million Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme (Stream 2A), to demonstrate the feasibility of end-to-end industrial fuel switching to hydrogen. The study will take five months with the possibility to awarded further funding in the subsequent Stream 2B, to conduct further engineering and a demonstrator.

The feasibility study will also investigate the ability to utilise different blends of hydrogen with natural gas, enabling the transition to fuel switching and demonstration of system flexibility.

Costain Energy Sector Director, Matt Browell-Hook, said “I’m delighted that our H2Juice project has been selected under the Government’s hydrogen accelerator programme. Costain has been active for a number of years in the development of hydrogen schemes across the UK and this recent award is a great reflection of the hard work our energy teams have been involved in.”

This project builds on a similar study carried out with Welsh Water to evaluate the feasibility of converting waste gases from the sewage treatment process to produce fuel grade hydrogen, which could power local fleet vehicles.

JuiceInnov8, a Bangkok based deeptech startup in food biotechnology space, has closed a pre-Series A funding led by 500 Startups (500 Durians and 500 Tuktuks), making the total amount raised (including Seed Round and grants) at USD 1.2 M to date.

As the first venture-backed food-biotech startup in Asia, the company is now on the verge to reinvent global beverage industry with a better & healthier juice that has less sugar & lower calories. By working with leading food & beverage manufacturers worldwide, JuiceInnov8 develops sugar reduction technology platform with natural & non-GM (non-genetically modified) microbes and proprietary sugar conversion process through biotechnology. The technology allows sugar & calories reduction in juice to near zero while preserving its original 100 % juice content and key nutrients.

Proceed from this round will help JuiceInnov8 expand its core scientist & engineering team and help accelerate the development from pilot to commercial scale. The company is now working closely with leading brands & suppliers in the food & beverage supply chain in multiple regions around the globe.

Why does a supplement made exclusively from tomato paste have an EFSA health claim, but not the tomato paste it’s made from?

Raised: 73,500€. Target: 270,400€.

The expansion of the Tomato Foundation Health Claim Project Consortium continues – rallying support from companies within the tomato industry global supply chain. The project focuses on obtaining an EFSA health claim for tomato paste/tomato products and improved blood flow – based on an existing EFSA health claim for a tomato supplement, awarded in 2009.

Consortium partners: Morning Star Packing Company / Kagome Co., Ltd. / Kagome USA, Inc. / Mutti S.p.A. / HIT Group / Assan Foods / Ingomar Packing Company / Integrated Supply Solutions SL. / Concentrated Solutions Inc. / Bösch Boden Spies GmbH & Co. KG / Agrofusion / Neil Jones Food Company / SADAFCO / CCFIA (China Canned Food Industry Association) / WPTC (World Processing Tomato Council) / AMITOM (Mediterranean International Association of the Processing Tomato)

Research group: SSICA (Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Conserve Alimentari) / Universidad Complutense de Madrid / NIZO food research BV / Caledonian Science Press Ltd.

Next steps – The product study: The Tomato Foundation invites collaboration, participation and support for the next step in the project, which is the tomato paste and product sample study. Samples from multiple locations will be tested.

For EFSA validation, a product study is needed to demonstrate consistent and sufficient levels of bioactives in tomato paste and consumer products. The health claim for Fruitflow dictates bioactive levels fixed by production standards. Processed tomato products are already standardised by the Codex Alimentarius for Natural Soluble Solid Content (NTSS). Therefore, the foundation’s new study will target bioactive content per standard serving.

An independent feasibility study produced by Nizo Food Research strongly suggests that the same bioactive content as in a single dose of Fruitflow is found in 12g tomato paste (30 % NTSS) and 70ml tomato juice (5 % NTSS).

The product study aims to show that, regardless of regional variation, the lower range of bioactive compound levels in standard servings of tomato products remain consistently above the level set by a single dose of Fruitflow. The study will be carried out by the SSICA food research institute – in Parma, Italy.

All consumer products that are tested in the study – and pass for sufficient bioactive content – will be awarded a licence of use for the health claim.

Only project consortium companies will be able to use this health claim for their products.

Full information on the project can be found here: www.tomatofoundation.org