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Pressing
A regional material from an existing process.
Food innovation · Switzerland
Creating new value from what remains after pressing.
ReNUTS studies how co-products from oilseed pressing can become a new generation of food ingredients and products, with the ambition of building a local, science-led and circular value chain.
Early-stage R&D · Consortium building
The starting point
After the oil, a resource remains.
When a mill presses walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or seeds to produce oil, a substantial solid fraction remains: press cake.
This material is currently used, among other applications, in animal feed. ReNUTS aims to scientifically assess its potential for human food and identify higher-value applications.
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Nutritional values are not assumed: they must be measured for each material, origin and pressing process.
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The opportunity
What if this material could create much more value?
The project is not simply about launching a protein bar. It is about characterising an existing resource, securing its food use, developing suitable processes and then creating reproducible ingredients and products at industrial scale.
The ReNUTS approach
From resource to market.
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Press cake
The co-product becomes a resource to characterise.
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Analysis
Composition, safety, stability and functionality.
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R&D
Formulation, trials, processes and validation.
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Product
Demonstrators, ingredients and applications.
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New value
A value chain capable of creating new outlets.
From co-product to ingredient
Science before claims.
R&D must establish what each material can actually deliver.
Nutritional composition
Protein, fibre, residual lipids, carbohydrates, minerals and energy value.
Protein quality
Amino-acid profile and possible complementarity between materials.
Food safety
Microbiology, allergens, cross-contamination, foreign bodies and traceability.
Stability
Moisture, water activity, oxidation, storage and shelf life.
Functional properties
Particle size, texture, absorption, formulation behaviour and the impact of residual oil.
Proof of concept
First demonstrator
A bar to learn from. Not to define the project.
A raw / no-bake food bar is being considered as the first proof of concept. It will enable rapid testing of incorporation rate, texture, taste, binding, stability, shelf life and industrial feasibility.
Over time, ReNUTS could lead to protein ingredients, functional flours, nutritional blends, granolas, crackers, bakery and breakfast products, or B2B ingredients.
A value-chain approach
Connecting material, science, industry and market.
ReNUTS starts in the Canton of Vaud with the ambition to build a coherent value chain, then expand it where doing so creates real value.
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Mills & producers
Raw materials, volumes, origin, traceability and product knowledge.
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Universities / UAS
Characterisation, nutrition, functional properties, formulation and stability.
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Laboratories
Nutritional, physicochemical and microbiological analyses.
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Food industry
Pilot trials, processes, reproducibility, packaging and scale-up.
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FORCENTO
Project leadership, product innovation, business model, commercial development and coordination.
Local by design
Maximising value created in the region.
ReNUTS is also studying regional alternatives to some imported ingredients. One avenue is fruit-based binders using Vaud-grown quince, apple or pear to explore even more local formulations.
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This route still requires technical validation. ReNUTS does not currently claim a “100% Vaud” product.
Where we are
A pre-industrial project in the structuring phase.
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01
ReNUTS concept defined and R&D programme structured.
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02
First material stakeholder identified: positive discussions with Moulin de Sévery.
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Initial formulation routes defined.
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Contact initiated with SPEI, including exploration of an NPR approach.
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Discussions initiated across the scientific, food and industrial ecosystem.
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Partner consortium currently being assembled.
Join the project
Let’s build the value chain together.
Do you work with oilseeds, food co-products, research or the food industry? ReNUTS is looking for partners able to contribute to materials, science, prototyping, industrialisation or market access.
FORCENTO
Food innovation as a starting point.
ReNUTS is led by FORCENTO Sàrl. The company has entrepreneurial experience in alternative proteins and food innovation. That experience now supports a new approach: start from an existing regional resource, scientifically demonstrate its potential, then build an economically viable value chain around it.
Co-founders
Kim Chiquet · Florian Fahrny
A new value chain starts with looking at an existing material differently.
Talk to us
FORCENTO Sàrl
Chemin de la Butte 14, 1066 Epalinges, Suisse
kim.chiquet@outlook.com