Starting at the Source
Sustainable sourcing of ingredients has more and more become a long term integrated process where ingredient producers become involved in the making of their staple crops from the very beginning: the farms.
BENEO: The Right Plant in the Right Place
When ingredient producer BENEO chose where to build a new, sustainable faba bean processing plant, it made sure the site was in close proximity to the farms that provide them with the sought-after crop.
BENEO’s factory is part of a sustainability movement that involves ingredient producers in the whole supply chain, not only what happens inside their walls. The plant was opened in 2025 following an investment of around EUR50m by the mother company, the Südzucker Group, and it is processing locally grown faba beans into ingredients for food and feed production. “Pulses like faba beans are key to resilient farming systems and thanks to their versatility and sustainability credentials are an increasingly popular plant-based protein source for bakery producers,” says Nathalie Sadin, Corporate Sustainability Manager at BENEO. “Our pulse-processing plant supports a zero-waste approach, through the full valorisation of the faba bean raw material, producing a protein concentrate, starch-rich flour, and hulls (which are used in animal feed). The beans are processed using dry fractionation. During production, no water is used, a low level of energy input is required, compared to wet processes and no chemicals or processing aids are needed. Also, the plant production runs entirely on electricity from renewable energy sources. Additional power is generated by a rooftop photovoltaic system and waste heat from production is used to heat the building.”
BENEO’s faba beans are grown in Germany and are REDCert2 certified, which is equivalent to the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) from SAI at the highest “Gold” level. Also, the faba beans are grown in a region with good rainfall and soil with good water retention capacity, so that irrigation is not necessary. “The collaboration with German farmers helps lower the ingredient’s overall carbon footprint, thanks to short transportation distances to the pulse-processing plant in Obrigheim, Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany,” says Sadin.
Together with an external partner, BENEO conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for their faba bean ingredients, i.e., the protein concentrate, starch-rich flour and hulls. Its results have been reviewed and certified by an independent auditor. The goal was to assess the environmental impact from cradle-to-gate, meaning from faba bean cultivation on the field to the final ingredients. What differentiates a LCA from a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) is that it takes into account not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also a range of other environmental factors, including water and land use.
Interestingly, the results for the protein concentrate demonstrate that 87% of the ingredients’ environmental impact on global warming is caused by the cultivation of the crop, 9% by transportation from the field to the factory, while only 4% stems from BENEO’s production process, confirming our choice of a dry fractionation method, says Nathalie Sadin.
The comparison of BENEO’s LCA results with animal protein and competitive vegetal protein ingredients like soy or pea isolate showed that faba bean protein concentrate gains a competitive edge through low climate change impact. In particular, faba bean protein concentrate significantly outperforms animal protein from eggs in terms of climate change impact and water use. This is good news for bakery producers looking to reduce their environmental impact, while at the same time responding to the plant-based trend by reformulating without eggs.
This faba bean initiative is not the only avenue BENEO is taking toward more sustainability.
“Finding more sustainable farming methods and promoting regenerative agricultural principles is a crucial part of our sustainability strategy, the ‘Healthy Planet Plan’,” says Sadin. “For example, we launched this year a three-year project, funded by the Government of Flanders, promoting sustainable rice production in Vietnam. When it comes to faba beans, they help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at farm level by capturing nitrogen from the atmosphere and using it to nourish both themselves and subsequent crops. This natural fertilisation reduces the need for synthetic inputs and improves soil quality for future harvests. They also provide an additional crop in farmers’ rotation cycle, while enhancing soil structure and increasing biodiversity.”
ADM: Regenerative Agriculture Comes to Hungary
In the same vein, ADM announced the expansion of its regenerative agriculture program, re:generation to Hungary. The program helps build and maintain a more resilient food system and create economic value for growers by providing financial and agronomic support to farmers who are taking steps to implement regenerative agriculture practices.
In collaboration with Bayer, the program in Hungary aims to enroll 30,000 acres (approximately 12,000 hectares) of predominately sunflower seeds but also soybeans, for the 2025 harvest and to scale in subsequent years. Through the program, sunflower seed farmers will be provided with financial and technical support to implement qualifying regenerative agriculture practices. ADM will compensate participating farmers for each qualifying hectare, measured and verified using Bayer’s digital capabilities in collaboration with Trinity Agtech’s Sandy platform, a recognized solution backed by science that complies with the highest standards available in the market. In addition to financial support, participating farmers will receive agronomic guidance from specialized professionals. That support starts with a deep agronomical understanding of issues specific to each region, followed by on-farm assessments, where agronomists visit fields and, together with farmers, design development plans tailored for each farm. Enrolled farmers will be able to share their experiences with one another and discuss different techniques during field visits and peer learning opportunities. By coordinating peer-to-peer networks, knowledge can be shared with a goal of revitalizing rural communities.