Prof. Andrea Büttner has been Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising since November 2019 and has been Managing Director since April 2020. In the second part of our interview, she outlines the future issues being addressed by the Fraunhofer IVV team and the assistance being provided to industry for the development and commercial introduction of new food products.

sweets processing: Professor Büttner, the current situation is not easy for R&D organizations. How has it impacted the work of your institute?
Prof. Andrea Büttner: In general, we are seeing increased demand for our expertise and project work. This is not only due to the fact that we address a broad spectrum of relevant topics but also because we are able to transfer our multidisciplinary knowledge, built up in the area food and packaging, to other industries. Today, our interdisciplinary team of experts is in great demand since the major challenges that need to be tackled require system concepts and solutions.

sp: What does this specifically mean?
Büttner: We develop a total package of technologies for sensory systems, diagnostics, and control, automation, and self-learning assistance systems at the human-machine interface. These allow human input in key operational processes to be reduced or eliminated so that workers can devote more time to other tasks on the production line. Such technologies not only allow faults to be prevented and bring higher production efficiency but also reduce hazards for people and the environment and foster social interaction. For improved protection of people, we develop hygiene concepts, often in collaboration with other Fraunhofer institutes. One such collaborative initiative is the High Performance Center “Secure Intelligent Systems”. This also has benefits for other areas, for example for the safety of mobility, gastronomy, sport, and care. The development of sensor systems and diagnostics means, for example, that we reduce the risks for “human panels”. A challenge here is, amongst others, the potential hazard of microbiological contamination. Especially, since there are also hazard scenarios that we cannot taste or smell. So, it is even more important that we develop supporting technologies to protect people, both consumers but also persons in the quality control and production process.

sp: Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of good nutrition. The food industry is responding to this. How does the Fraunhofer IVV support food manufacturers with the development and commercial introduction of new products?
Büttner: Functional ingredients based on plant raw materials are a key area of our work. If possible, these plants are grown locally and for that reason we use, amongst others, traditional nutritional legumes such as lupines, faba beans, and lentils. We also utilize byproduct streams from oil and starch recovery. For recovering plant proteins, we put special emphasis on gentle processing. In collaboration with our industrial partners, we are developing an ever growing range of alternative foods such as plant-based dairy and meat products. To ensure that these products also have beneficial nutritional effects, we work together with experts in nutritional medicine and develop new formulations, recipes, and processes based on their recommendations. For example, lowering the sugar, salt or fat content and increasing the dietary fiber, protein or polyphenol content require product reformulation. When using plant raw materials, we often replace classical ingredients with natural ingredients.

sp: Can you give examples?
Büttner: The replacement of saturated fats and palm oil can be achieved in a sustainable way by using, for example, rapeseed oil or sunflower oil. Chocolate and nut based spreads made with such ingredients have a comparable texture to standard spreads. By using oleogels as “fat systems”, the amount of saturated fatty acids can be reduced by at least 25 percent. The higher unsaturated fatty acid content simultaneously gives significantly improved nutritional value. In all our work, a priority is put on developing tasty products, although we also need to better understand satiety effects to counter obesity and create products with positive nutri-physiological effects. At the end of the day, a food product has to be tasty.

sp: How do you assist companies with the challenges of new packaging legislation and the increasing awareness of manufacturers and consumers for sustainable packaging?
Büttner: We develop alternative and often urgently needed solutions for the packaging industry as a result of changing economic or statutory boundary conditions. The new German Packaging Act lays down considerably increased quotas for mechanical recycling. To facilitate this, we are tackling the complex topic of a circular economy for plastics in a holistic way, namely as early as the materials’ development stage and in the packaging design phase. This work naturally also includes new sorting and recycling strategies. The strength of our approach is the holistic consideration of the whole product development process, and this in any case with a strong focus on consumers.

sp: Does this mean that your institute offers a unique total solution?
Büttner: Yes, indeed. We develop complete system solutions for the complex interactions of product and manufacturing chains. The Fraunhofer IVV in both Freising and Dresden develop the best possible combinatory solutions, always taking sustainability, safety, health, and consumer protection into full account. Over many years, we have built up an interdisciplinary team whose know-how is unique. Our engineers, food technologists, chemists, microbiologists, physiologists, and other specialists mean our pooled knowledge seamlessly covers the life sciences, engineering science, and information technology. Consequently, we are not only able to offer technical solutions but truly understand the challenges of our industrial partners and how to address their needs. This is all made possible by the broad interdisciplinary know-how of the people at Fraunhofer IVV – and our understanding of the key issues.