Swiss foodtech start-up Eat planted – known for alternative proteins and its award winning Eatplanted.chicken – has doubled its production capacity following investment into its site in Kemptthal, Switzerland. The move means it is fast becoming the largest, most modern production facility for plant-based meat in Europe.

Inspired by nature, Eat planted pioneers a novel bio-structuring approach that combines protein structuring and biotechnology to produce delicious plant-based alternatives to meat. Using various proprietary technologies, the company designs and structures alternative proteins in any size, shape, and fibrous texture. Eat planted products are made using only clean and natural ingredients with no additives or fillers often associated with alternative meats. 

The investment will be funnelled into the expansion of its facilities, including a new production line with double wave extruder, more output and efficiency in the finishing of the products, and a new high-performance packaging line, as well as a new, modern laboratory.

Bolstering its integrated production process

 

"The investment for the expansion and further modernisation of the Kemptthal production site enables us to increase the capacity of the plant from 500kg per hour to over one tonne per hour, thus meeting the growing market demand," advised Lukas Böni, Co-founder and member of the Executive Board of Planted. 

"We are proud to be one of the few manufacturers of plant-based meat that take responsibility for all steps in the production process. Our science and development department, top Michelin star chefs, production and even a restaurant are located here in Kemptthal. The most important feature is that the Kemptthal production facility is located in a glass house. It is the first transparent meat production facility open to the public," he informed.  

Green technology plays a central role at Kemptthal facility

Green technology played a central role in the construction of the new production facility. The site has an energy recovery system. With this system, the energy generated in the heating and cooling processes of the production as well as the room air conditioning can be reused. 

In the future, Eat planted will even be able to feed the energy that it does not need itself into the emerging district heating network of the industrial park ‘The Valley’, which is being developed by Mettler2Invest. This will significantly reduce the energy consumption of the site and minimise the use of resources. Within the context of such projects, Eat planted is serving to prove that a new standard of sustainability in production can be achieved through innovation.

“Biostructured proteins will outperform animal meat in the near future”

Planted is currently available at restaurants and retailers across Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy and most recently, the UK, as well as via the company’s own Europewide webshop. 

 

The Planted product ranges – each consisting of different protein sources (peas, oat, sunflowers) – currently include planted.™chicken, planted.™pulled, planted.™kebab and planted.™schnitzel.

Founded in 2019, the Zurich-based foodtech spin-off from the Swiss Technical Institute of Technology (ETH) was quick to build intellectual property around their bio-structuring approach. Among other international awards, Eat planted ranked first at the TOP 100 Swiss Start-up Awards in 2021.

  

“Planted is the future of meat consumption,” said the company in a statement, adding that it is “convinced that bio-structured proteins will outperform animal meat in the near future in terms of taste, sustainability, health, efficiency and price”.