Miller Magazine Issue: 131 November 2020

69 TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM MILLER / November 2020 What role does Stern-Wywiol Gruppe play in feeding the world's population and preventing hunger disease and mortality? We are very active around the world in the enrichment of flour with vitamins and other micronutrients. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other NGOs have achieved much here, and have persuaded governments all over the globe to mandate the enrichment of staple foods with vital nutrients. Our special companies Mühlenchemie and Stern- Vitamin work closely with these organisations, and formu- late and produce country-specific premixes. In doing so we have a great responsibility, which our employees are very committed to. The importance of this work is also shown by the fact that the World Food Programme was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2020 last week. This is an important signal and more than deserved. We congratulate the organisation and its staff wholeheartedly. Stern-Wywiol Gruppe has now been managed in the second generation by your son Torsten Wywiol for 10 years. How should we view company management? Every generation must adapt to rapidly changing situa- tions and its environment. It is my good fortune that my son also has the entrepreneurial gene, and is continuing to build the family company with the same drive and intensity. Rev- enues have almost doubled in the last ten years, particular- ly through the continued expansion of foreign subsidiaries with office and production facilities. You’ve been in the flour industry for 40 years. What do you think flour means for human nutrition? What is the role of flour in our diet? Every year millers face the challenge of the varying qual- ity and baking properties of the annual grain harvest. Our Mühlenchemie is a partner to the worldwide milling indus- try, and through our efforts over 100 million tonnes of flour are improved each year. Wheat is the world’s leading staple food. Bread, biscuits, pizza and pasta are eaten everywhere and are fixtures in the diets of the world. Proteins from wheat are in demand and are also being used more and more in vegan meat alternatives. PLANT-BASED PRODUCTS ARE CHANGING THE FOOD MARKET What do you think will be more prominent in human nutrition in the upcoming period? Plant-based alternatives to meat and fish will grow enormously; indeed, they are changing the food market. Some futurologists even speak of a 180-degree shift in western eating habits. Sustainability, health and animal welfare will guide our purchase decisions in the future. Our Hydrosol company has been providing leading-edge technology in this field for years. We recently set up a special company, Planteneers, that focuses exclusively on plant-based foods, with extensive applications technolo- In Wittenburg/Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Volkmar Wywiol found favourable conditions to build the most modern factory in Europe for powdered functional ingredient systems.