The plant revolution - more than just a trend

Vegan and vegetarian nutrition have arrived in Germany: In Germany, about 2% of the population now prefer a vegan diet and about 10% follow a vegetarian diet - and the trend is rising.

More and more people are also trying to avoid animal products and are consciously choosing plant-based alternatives. Especially in the field of milk and meat alternatives, the market continues to grow: from plant-based drinks derived from soy, oats, rice, or various nuts, to various meat substitutes based on peas, soy, or lupines, there are more and more foods that do not contain animal products or meat. In the production of plant-based substitute products, centrifuges from Flottweg play a particularly important role in creating the perfect food product.

In the production of plant-based milk alternatives, the raw material is first mixed with water and finely ground. This is followed by an extraction process in which an attempt is made to extract as many ingredients as possible into the liquid phase, i.e. the plant milk. In the case of raw materials containing starch, enzymes are used to convert the starch and other carbohydrates into sugar. An essential step is the efficient separation of the extracted plant fibers using decanter centrifuges. The raw milk is subsequently mixed with other ingredients (e.g. oil, flavoring or salt) as required, then homogenized, heated and finally packaged.