The future of food and feed starts here
On October 28, 2024, in the presence of over 200 customers we inaugurated our new Grain Innovation Center (GIC) in Uzwil. The new application center marks a significant milestone in the field of grain processing innovation, combining high-tech solutions with our long-standing expertise in a space that promotes collaboration. Find out what new opportunities the GIC offers and get to know the team behind it.
Dalen Jacomino, December 2024
“The GIC is the latest addition to our expanding network of Application & Training Centers in Uzwil,” says Johannes Wick, CEO of Grains & Food. “We cover the entire range of production, from various raw materials to a wide array of finished products. In doing so, we provide our customers with exceptional flexibility and the choices they need to address increasing challenges and revolutionize their markets. "With changes in global grain supply chains, nutritional requirements, transparency of sourcing and pricing pressure, the milling industry faces a challenging environment.”
The GIC is carefully designed to empower our customers from the food and animal nutrition industries to innovate and improve their processes, ensuring they stay ahead of the latest trends in milling and remain competitive in their rapidly evolving markets. Additionally, customers and partners have access to our comprehensive Application & Training Center (ATC) hub in Uzwil, which connects entire value chains.
The new, modern and high-tech GIC facility is the successor to our former Grain Technology Center, which has served the milling industry since 1951. The five-story facility spans 2,000 square meters and features state-of-the-art infrastructure along with over 70 pieces of cutting-edge equipment from us and our partners. The GIC works as a leading-edge arena for customers to experiment, innovate, and find concrete solutions to meet their specific needs.
The GIC is equipped with the latest solutions and technologies for processing grain and pulses. Customers can conduct tests on food and animal feed and can develop new processes and solutions in various areas, including cleaning, optical sorting, grinding, sifting, mixing, protein shifting (a mechanical process that increases the protein concentration in plant-based raw materials). Additionally, they can work on hygienization and pelleting, as well as dehulling, peeling, and pearling of grains and pulses. “The GIC offers an unparalleled environment where customers can develop tailored processes and witness the extensive capabilities of our diverse portfolio firsthand,” says Stefan Birrer, Head of Business Area Milling Solutions.
The GIC is not just a facility, it’s a symbol of our commitment to helping customers succeed in an industry that is continuously evolving.
Food trials encompass a variety of raw materials, including cereals, herbs, spices, and pulses. The GIC includes the technology and expertise to conduct trials on local and ancient grains – raw materials that can play a vital role in improving food security in many countries. Leveraging its extensive know-how in processing, the GIC also offers testing for various other commodities, including coffee, nuts, and insects. Feed trials can be performed with production capacities of up to 5 tonnes per hour, covering the entire production line or individual process steps.
One of the main advantages of the GIC is its ability to provide not only detailed data that enable continuous and precise monitoring of the process but also the physical and chemical properties of the product at every stage of production and under different process conditions.
Lothar Driller,
Department Manager Feed Application Center and Trainings
The side streams generated by the GIC, such as wheat bran and rice husks, corn husk, pea hulls, and screenings from cleaning, will feed our Energy Recovery Center, which provides heating for the Uzwil offices. Customers can also use this Center to explore the potential of utilizing side streams through energy recovery, which can lead to the reduction of their carbon footprint, waste, and energy costs.
The GIC is part of our Application & Training Centers hub, which encompasses the four recently launched ATCs – Flavor Creation Center, Food Creation Center, Protein Application Center, and Energy Recovery Center – and other centers that have been in operation for several years, such as the Extrusion Application Center and Pasta Application Center.
With this innovation hub, we can provide full, farm-to-fork coverage, encompassing entire value chains, an environment that is unique in the market.
Our broad business stretches across the entire protein value chain, and we have meticulously implemented a strategy for partnerships, closing internal gaps and enhancing material flow.
Rudolf Hofer,
Head of the GIC
The modernization project also includes our Milling Academy and the Swiss Institute of Feed Technology (SFT), both of which will be housed in a new structure strategically located next to the GIC to increase synergies. This new Milling Academy and the SFT facility will have classrooms, open learning areas, meeting rooms, a customer service corner, new laboratories, a workshop area, and a larger changing room for customers and employees.
The new building will enable our team and customers to adapt and develop the skills needed to keep pace with a quickly changing and increasingly challenging work environment. About 1,000 customers and 150 colleagues were trained in more than 120 training courses offered by the Milling Academy and the SFT in 2023. The new training facility is due to be operational by January 2025.
Rudolf Hofer, Head of the GIC, Lothar Driller, Department Manager Feed Application Center and Trainings, Rene Strupler, Senior Process Engineer Milling Solutions and Gero Zimmermann, Department Manager Process Technology Animal Nutrition will be the main contacts for processes in the GIC.
I am most looking forward to exploring exciting innovation ideas with small and large, external and internal partners.
The various plant sections can be operated flexibly with each other and the intermediate products can be sent directly to the next process step using fluid lifts. Open collaboration between the food and feed sectors has always been very good, even in the old GIC, and we will continue to benefit from synergies in the future for many trials.
With the know-how gained in over 70 years of operating the Grain Technology Center, we were able to design the new Grain Innovation Center to meet current trends. In addition, the new building has laid the foundations for future developments. With the experience gained in the past and the new machine portfolio, we will be able to turn our customers into Bühler process fans.
One challenge will certainly be to promote the many possibilities for using the GIC, including those beyond the feed industry. The available infrastructure can also be used in connection with the utilization of by-products from the food industry, the pretreatment of plant material, grain and oilseeds, as well as a variety of different raw materials.
Along with customers, notable figures from Bühler’s milling past were invited on stage in celebration of the opening. These seasoned former Heads of Milling Solutions have significantly shaped the milling industry, and were joined by Stefan Birrer, the current Head of Milling Solutions.
(from left to right)
1960: Ernst Schefer
1992: Hans-Jakob Schoch
2000: Martin Schlauri
2014: Johannes Wick
2016: Ralph Schuck
2018: Stefan Birrer
“This was a very emotional moment for me because I have had the pleasure of working with all my predecessors. Over many decades, and with immense focus, passion, and dedication, they significantly contributed to the success we enjoy today. It’s wonderful that as a company, we have this continuity and actively live and celebrate it,” said Stefan Birrer.
Gupfenstrasse 5
Uzwil
9240
Switzerland
