Miller Magazine Issue: 150 June 2022

60 MILLER / JUNE 2022 NEWS Bühler Group is officially opening its world-class Insect Technology Center (ITC). Located in Uzwil, Swit- zerland, the facility brings together Bühler’s expertise and the best infrastructure to help the industry to further develop. In the ITC, Bühler and its customers can conduct larvae growth trials with various feedstock, develop product samples, evaluate breed solutions, and run trainings. The ITC, which obtained funding from Swit- zerland’s Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) due to its contribution to a more sustainable food system, is already in operation. “The opening of the Insect Technology Center is a major milestone in our journey. Over the last years, we have gained expertise and maturity to serve dif- ferent customers in the insect industry with the most adequate and reliable solutions. With our new facili- ty, we extend our services and can even better sup- port our customers in installing an industrial insect plant,” says Andreas Baumann, Head of Market Seg- ment Insect Technology at Bühler. At the heart of the Center there are two insect growth chambers that can mimic industrial produc- tion conditions. These chambers have a sophisticat- ed climate control system and are equipped with nu- merous sensors that give valuable process insights. Based on the collected data, the right parameters and practices can be determined to finally ensure an efficient insect production at industrial scale. At the ITC, it is possible to work with the two most rele- vant insect species for industrial production, namely black soldier flies and mealworms. “A company that wants to build an industrial insect plant needs to cover several operational aspects. It includes finding the correct feedstock to rear the lar- vae, making sure that there is a strong and suitable insect strain to grow, defining suitable climate set- tings in relation to the larvae growth cycle, or getting emission data required for the permitting process,” says Andreas Baumann. All these topics are essen- tial for a successful insect plant project and can be Bühler opens Insect Technology Center to support customers in the feed and food industries