Alfa Laval technology will be at the core of a new EUR 100 million food processing plant in Sweden, which is set to play a ground-breaking role in the global drive to bridge the protein gap.

Leading Swedish agricultural cooperative Lantmännen is building the facility in Lidköping, which will be the largest of its kind in the country and will showcase how innovation in pulse processing can play a major part in generating much-needed plant-based protein to tackle the global food challenge.

The facility will process 35,000 tonnes of yellow peas and around 5,000 tonnes of fava beans a year, and will have a protein extraction line made up of Alfa Laval equipment such as separators, decanters evaporators, and flow equipment, which will be industry-leading in this vital area of food supply.

Operations are set to start in the first half of 2027, and when it is up and running the plant is expected to produce around 7,000 tonnes of pea and fava protein isolates annually for use in plant-based foods.

Sumit Pingle, vice president Agro & Protein Systems at Alfa Laval, says, “Processing plants for the extraction of protein from golden or yellow pea is a relatively new thing and only a few plants of this magnitude exist or are being built. Alfa Laval’s extensive equipment portfolio and process knowledge enabled us carry out rigorous collaborative testing at our facility in Denmark to simulate the whole process. Producing plant-based protein is not new, of course, but the scale of the investment and the focus on yellow peas that we see in the market right now is breaking new ground for plant-based protein.”

Magnus Kagevik, chief executive officer and group president of Lantmännen, says, “We need to produce more food to supply the world's growing population, and there is a global and long-term increasing demand for plant-based proteins as a food ingredient. The investment is an investment that will strengthen the entire value chain from farm to table. This means new cultivation opportunities for farmers and creates conditions for increased Swedish food production and export – which in turn is positive for Sweden’s food supply.”

The scale of the investment in the project is unprecedented in Sweden, with Alfa Laval providing the ‘wet’ processing part of the operations, where protein, starch and fibres are extracted between milling and drying.

All parts of the yellow peas are used, and nothing is wasted so from a sustainability perspective, they are climate-smart crops from field to table – requiring relatively little water and plant nutrients, while binding nitrogen in the soil and producing high-quality ingredients for food manufacturers.

It is expected that the world population will reach around 9.8 billion people by the year 2050 (UN, 2024), and with a limited availability of traditional protein sources, it is only innovative solutions such as the new Lantmännen plant that will see the imbalance between food supply and demand – the ‘protein gap’ – close.