The European Food Manufacturing Summit 2025: Veganz launches Orbi-Farm

At the European Food Manufacturing Summit 2025 held in Düsseldorf, Germany (11–12 June), Veganz Group took centre stage during the event’s “Innovation Spotlight” session.

CEO Jan Bredack presented a bold new vision for sustainable food systems: Orbi-Farm, a vertically integrated indoor farming system designed to produce high-yield protein crops in a climate-resilient, resource-efficient format.

Unlike conventional vertical farms focused on leafy greens, Orbi-Farm targets legumes and other protein-rich plants — offering a scalable, closed-loop solution to one of the food industry’s most urgent challenges: decoupling protein production from land-intensive, water-heavy agriculture.

The challenge: protein demand versus planetary boundaries
Global meat consumption continues to rise, particularly in Asia, while arable land and freshwater resources are increasingly constrained. Traditional agriculture dedicates up to 80% of farmland to feed crops for livestock, contributing to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The food industry faces mounting pressure to rethink how protein is sourced, processed, and distributed.

Orbi-Farm enters this landscape as a modular, soil-free farming model that can be deployed anywhere — from deserts to dense urban zones — without relying on traditional agricultural inputs. It’s not just a farm; it’s a next-gen protein factory.

Orbi-Farm’s core innovation: vertical protein farming
Orbi-Farm’s conveyor-belt cultivation system enables continuous seeding, growing, and harvesting of crops like peas, chickpeas, and other legumes. The entire process — from plant cultivation to protein extraction — occurs under one roof, dramatically reducing supply chain complexity and environmental impact.

Key features:

• Six harvests per year with a 60-day crop cycle
• 6x higher protein yield compared to conventional farming.
  Whole-plant utilisation, including roots and biomass, for maximum extraction
• 5% water usage relative to traditional agriculture, thanks to a closed-loop aeroponic system
• This system is designed to be plug-and-play, allowing rapid deployment in regions with limited agricultural infrastructure. It’s a leap toward food sovereignty, enabling countries to produce their own protein locally, regardless of climate or soil conditions.

The science behind Orbi-Farm
Developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute, Orbi-Farm incorporates a patented gravitropism mechanism that gently stresses plants during growth. This stress response enhances the nutritional profile and biomass density of the crops. When combined with CO₂ enrichment (up to 1200 ppm), the system achieves a 20–30% increase in yield.

Orbi-Farm supports over 60 crop varieties, including those used in food, medical, and pet applications. The technology is modular and adaptable, making it suitable for both small-scale urban installations and large industrial deployments.

Global strategy: licensing and circular economy integration
Veganz has licensed Orbi-Farm to the Kerber Group, enabling global deployment across 140 countries. Farms can be strategically placed near animal operations or urban centres, reducing deforestation and logistics costs.

The business model mirrors software-as-a-service, with Veganz retaining IP rights and supplying protein ingredients for branded and white-label products.
But the innovation doesn’t stop at food. Orbi-Farm’s side streams — plant roots, fibrous biomass, and nutrient-rich residues — are repurposed into building materials, soil alternatives, and industrial inputs, aligning with circular economy principles.

Beyond protein: a platform for regenerative manufacturing
Orbi-Farm isn’t just a farming system — it’s a regenerative manufacturing platform. By integrating vertical farming with on-site processing, Veganz eliminates the need for long-haul transport, cold storage, and multi-step supply chains. The result is a low-footprint, high-output system that can be replicated globally.

This model offers a compelling alternative to traditional protein sourcing, especially for manufacturers seeking ESG-aligned ingredients, carbon-neutral operations, and resilient supply chains.

Veganz’s Obi-Farm, as presented by Bredack in Düsseldorf, is more than a technological leap — it’s a strategic blueprint for how the food industry can meet rising protein demand without compromising planetary boundaries.