Work has started on a new £6m facility at Branston‘s site in Lincolnshire to extract high grade plant protein from potatoes. Luisa Cheshire reports for Fruitnet that the UK potato supplier is working alongside B-hive Innovations as part of a collaborative project to improve potato crop utilisation.
The commercial factory is the first of its kind in the UK and will see the introduction of bespoke technologies and capabilities to meet the growing demand for UK grown plant-based ingredients, Branston said. The facility will convert low-value potatoes into clean-label functional protein, which can be used in vegetarian and vegan foods. It will also generate starch-based products for a range of manufacturing applications.
The project is being headed up by the newly appointed managing director of the Branston’s Prepared Foods division, Richard Fell, as a key part of his focus on transforming the prepared business.
Source: Fruitnet. Read the full report here
Photo: (L-R) Vee Gururajan, director at B-hive; Tom Britton, engineering manager at Branston Prepared; Richard Fell, managing director at Branston Prepared; Alison Wright, project manager at B-Hive.
