New Innovation Platform Created to Harness Potential of Vegetable Proteins

The vast majority of European agricultural crops, which account for a total of some 28 million tonnes of protein, are not used to their full potential.

3 April 2012 --- Global consumption of concentrated proteins is increasing rapidly and set to double over the next ten years. Protein of plant origin, which currently accounts for just 44% of this total, represents an alternative to animal protein, which requires eight times more fossil fuel to produce. The vast majority of European agricultural crops, which account for a total of some 28 million tonnes of protein, are not used to their full potential. In Europe, industrial innovation in this field is stagnating, and the research effort is not sufficient to meet the growing demand from the new markets in human and animal nutrition, biomaterials, cosmetics and chemicals.

Taking these factors into account, Tereos Syral launched a project during 2011 to exploit the full potential of these proteins through future-oriented investments. This project has now been voted as the winner of the call for Shared Innovation Platform projects run by Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations. Supported by the IAR (Industries and Agro-Resources) global competitiveness cluster and the Picardy Region, the project involves the creation of a competency centre dedicated to the extraction, processing and use of vegetable proteins. Guided by common interests, this unique publicprivate partnership model brings together major French food processing companies Tereos Syral, Siclaé, Sofiprotéol, Soufflet, and leading research and transfer facilities exploiting the full potential of plants, namely INRA, Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV) and Centre de Valorisation des Glucides et Produits Naturels (CVG). Each partner will thus be able to breathe life into research topics and bring its knowledge and skills to bear on efforts to overcome the scientific and technical hurdles.

The platform set up at Dury (Somme department) with UPJV’s support will help to achieve short research cycles and industrialisation times. It will be managed by industrial companies operating at the intersection between the food, chemicals and energy sectors, which are striving to enhance the competitiveness of the French agroprocessing industry and contribute to revitalising the country’s economic fabric.

The project has three priorities:
- agricultural and industrial development: IMPROVE will in the future help to harness the full potential of European crops, boost the competitiveness of agriculture and the French agroprocessing sector and develop new markets in growth sectors.

- creation of a competency centre: dedicated to harnessing the value of vegetable proteins and their derivatives, this facility projects annual revenues of €3 million via its proprietary research, collaborative research and services on behalf of corporate clients and French SMEs operating in the human and animal nutrition, materials, cosmetics and chemicals sectors.

- social: 20 or so highly qualified employees will be recruited to work on the platform for a project worth around €35 million in total.

IMPROVE thus adds to the French research facilities that are crucial for the development of biorefineries and the bioeconomy in France, neatly complementing the BRI (exploitation of the potential of glucides housed in Siclaé), PIVERT (exploitation of the potential of lipids housed in Sofiprotéol) and OSIRIS (research into the enzyme complexes produced by solid-state fermentation housed in the Soufflet group) platforms.

The IMPROVE platform is due to be launched in February 2013.