GEA is supporting hands-on training at Geisenheim University with process technology specifically designed for research and teaching. For the newly opened Beverage Technology Center (GTZ), the engineering group supplied a multipurpose plant that replicates industrial beverage processes on a small scale – flexible in use, broadly applicable, and designed to support both teaching and applied research.

GEA technology makes processes visible and understandable

GEA’s pilot-scale solution combines industrial process standards with didactic accessibility. It consists of a flash pasteurizer, a cleaning-in-place (CIP) and sterilisation-in-place (SIP) system, a carbonator, an automated interconnection matrix, and a separator suitable for fruit juice, beer, and wine applications. All components are skid-mounted, with an integrated maintenance walkway for optimal access – a setup specifically adapted to the demands of university-based operations.

“Students should learn how processes work – and how to design them,” says Astrid Heller, project manager at GEA and expert for non-alcoholic beverage processing. “With this setup, they can modify process sequences, understand control points, and at the same time gain insights into the hygiene and efficiency standards of industrial production.”

The automated interconnection matrix allows specific process steps to be switched on or off, enabling students and faculty to construct, modify, and analyze entire process chains. This flexibility enables a learning experience that goes far beyond conventional training models.

“Our students not only experience real industrial automation here, but also develop a deep understanding of the logic and structure of modern beverage production – from pasteurisation to filling,” explains Michael Ludwig, head of the GTZ at Geisenheim University. “We aim to train the people who will move the industry forward – in production, innovation, and product development.”

Transfer platform for academia, research, and industry

The GTZ is designed as an open center for technology and knowledge transfer. In addition to university students, the infrastructure is also used by collaborating research institutes, industrial partners, and – via Germany’s federal vocational class for fruit juice technology – even vocational school programs. Continuing education courses, technical workshops, and joint pilot projects help ensure that knowledge transfer is active and ongoing. With this approach, the GTZ strengthens Geisenheim’s position as one of Germany’s leading centers for beverage education and applied development – both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

GEA was involved early in the project’s system planning. Even before construction began, requirements related to utilities, automation, and process integration were jointly defined – a model for successful collaboration between academia and industry.

Pilot-scale systems: a growing strategic area

For GEA, the Geisenheim project exemplifies a growing application field: scaled-down process lines for research, education, and product development. The combination of industrial-grade automation, didactic accessibility, and flexible multipurpose design makes these systems increasingly relevant – not only at universities, but also in pilot labs and innovation hubs across the beverage industry.

Better Juice, Ltd., the first foodTech startup to develop innovative technology to reduce all types of sugars in orange juice, and Citrosuco S.A, Brazil, one of the largest orange juice producers worldwide, are teaming up! The new collaboration aims to set up a pilot plant to reduce sugars in orange juice. Citrosuco is providing some of the funding plus technical and operational expertise.

Fruit juices contain vitamins, minerals, and many other beneficial nutrients, but this natural drink comes with three types of sugars. Better Juice’s game-changing enzymatic technology naturally transforms all types of fruit sugars into prebiotic and other non-digestible fibers and sugars.

“Our device use non-GMO microorganisms to convert the sugars, and provides orange juice manufactures a ready opportunity to meet the trends and claims for reduced sugars, all while keeping the juicy flavor of the beverage,” says Eran Blachinsky, PhD, Founder and CEO of Better Juice. “The global orange juices market is valued at dozens of billion US$ with outstanding potential to create better-for-you orange juice beverages.”

“We have been seeking an orange juice sugar reduction technology for some time,” says Alex Marie Schuermans, Product Development and Applications General Manager of Citrosuco. “Better Juice’s solution holds a lot of promise and we are confident that by combining their technology with our know-how, we can accelerate production of the first sugar-reduced orange juice.”

“This collaboration with Citrosuco is a vote of confidence in Better Juice’s leading technology and its capabilities for reducing sugar in orange juice,” notes Blachinsky. “We’re excited to work with this strategic partner and help create juices with low sugar — the latest frontier in sugar reduction.”

“Our proprietary technology can be tuned to reduce between 30 % to 80 % of all the sugars in orange juice,” explains Blachinsky. “Making it easy conform to the minimum 25% reduction required by the FDA, as well as the 30 % reduction required by the EFSA for allowable claims of ‘reduced sugar’ in food and beverage products.”

The startup won the “Most Innovative Technology” award at the 2018 Startup Innovation Challenge at Health ingredients Europe in Frankfurt for its sugar reduction technology, which it developed in conjunction with The Hebrew University in Rehovot, Israel, and The Kitchen Hub incubator, Ashdod, Israel.