Planted expands European footprint with new German production facility

Swiss food-tech pioneer, Planted, is further investing in its capacity expansion with a new production facility in southern Germany. This state-of-the-art facility, based on fermentation technology, will be the most modern of its kind in Europe. Green technology plays a key role in its construction.

The demand for environmentally friendly food has increased rapidly, and our recently launched steak has been particularly appealing to European consumers and restaurateurs. Planted believes that biostructured proteins will surpass animal meat in the future in terms of flavor, sustainability, health, productivity, and price.

Since 2020, Planted has been conducting research and production at its main site in Kemptthal, Switzerland. The German market currently accounts for the largest portion of its approximately 75% export share. With the aim of producing closer to consumers, Planted has decided to build another production site in Memmingen, Bavaria.

Commissioning of the new facility is planned for the first quarter of 2025, and the final expansion stage will create more than 50 technical and operational jobs. In the medium-term, the plant will produce more than 20 tons of plant-based meat per day.

The headquarters in Kemptthal will continue to maintain its production and importance, particularly for the Swiss market.

In April of this year, Planted introduced its latest culinary innovation: the planted.steak. This fermented plant-based steak is available in numerous European restaurants and retailers. The planted.steak is the first product of Planted's 'Whole Muscle' platform, a groundbreaking innovation platform for premium cuts of meat.

"Our international expansion follows the strategic decision to bolster our biotechnological expertise and locations abroad, closer to our consumers," explained Lukas Böni, Co-founder & Member of the Executive Board at Planted. "The investment in the additional production site enables us to meet the rapidly growing market demand and produce even closer to our German consumers."  

"We are proud to be one of the few innovators of plant-based meat who covers as many steps as possible in the value chain," continued Böni. "This depth of value creation allows us to develop our vision of 'better proteins' even more strongly."

The new plant in Memmingen will be nearly completely CO2 neutral and entirely free of fossil fuels. Instead, it will utilize a well cooling system, district heating from wood burning, and photovoltaics. This ensures that all the energy used to manufacture Planted meats comes from renewable sources.

Planted is implementing the project in Memmingen together with the local Alois Müller Group, a specialist in sustainable energy. Andreas Müller, Managing Director of the Alois Müller Group, said, "We are very pleased to be working with Planted, particularly in the areas of sustainability on site and regarding our expertise in the technical implementation of sustainable solutions in building technology."

Planted products are a scalable and sustainable solution to the environmental challenges associated with industrial meat production. Compared to its animal counterpart, the production of a planted.steak produces 97% less CO2 emissions and 81% less water consumption per kilogram.

In Memmingen, around 5,000 tons of plant-based meat will be produced annually. This will lead to high CO2 savings compared to animal meat.