DLG Group invests heavily in pea proteins in Germany

The DLG Group continues to invest significantly in the green agenda. HaGe has just entered a collaboration with other players to build a factory in northern Germany, which will produce highly processed pea proteins for the food industry with further developed technology and processes.

With its participation, HaGe will ensure local production of sustainable raw materials and be a purchaser of by-products for use in the feed industry.

CEO of DLG, Kristian Hundebøll says:

“At DLG, we have been working on sustainability for several years, and earlier this year we set an ambitious goal that the group will be climate neutral by 2050. With the establishment of a pea protein factory in Germany, we are sending a clear signal about where we are on the way to. That is why I am also pleased that we as a group are taking significant green steps - also in Germany, which is a key market for us,” says Kristian Hundebøll.

The market for green proteins are growing

With the sustainability plan ZERO, the group strives to make its own activities more climate-efficient, while at the same time developing tools and products with a sustainable profile for owners and customers.

As an example, DLG, together with other cooperatives, will from mid-May start producing green proteins from organic grass and alfalfa in West Jutland, which in the future can become an important component in the livestock industry. With the investment in the pea protein project in Germany, the DLG Group takes a new step in the green direction, where there is great potential for pea proteins in the foods of the future.

The cultivation of both grass and peas contributes to a nitrogen-reducing effect, and at the same time the grass binds CO2 to the soil so that it does not penetrate the atmosphere. Therefore, the production of grass and peas already has a strong climate and environmental profile, which DLG can use to produce a climate-efficient component in the livestock industry, and where there is also a potential in the longer term for use in food, especially in legumes.

“We are seeing an increasing demand for plant-based foods, and we expect this to continue in the coming years. That is why I am glad that we are leading the way in the German market by concretely building a factory that concentrates on the sustainable agenda in the human diet,” says Kristian Hundebøll and concludes:

“In West Jutland, we are building Northern Europe's first and largest factory of its kind to extract green proteins from grass and alfalfa, and now we are investing in the construction of a large factory in Germany that focuses on the production of pea protein. It is an expression that we have the courage to invest in new technology, which we believe is a central part of the solution to meet the goal of a climate-neutral industry by 2050.”

According to the plan, the pea protein factory in northern Germany will be completed in 2023. When production runs, the full capacity will be up to 50,000 tons per year.