Symrise invests in GEA mixing plant to boost liquid flavour capacity
Image: GEA
Symrise AG is significantly expanding its production capabilities for liquid flavourings through the construction of a new, large-scale mixing plant at its main site in Holzminden, Germany, built by GEA using its turnkey process technology.
The project, which began installation in summer 2025 and is scheduled for commissioning in spring 2026, marks a strategic move to reinforce Symrise’s market position and enhance service to its global food and beverage manufacturing customers.
The new facility is engineered to deliver a crucial increase in output, with Symrise projecting a capacity boost of up to 50% and a substantial reduction in delivery times. This enhancement directly addresses the growing global demand for complex flavour ingredients, including vanilla extracts, citrus oils, meat flavours, and menthol-based essences, used in products ranging from yogurts and confectionery to savoury ready meals.
Karsten Zota, factory manager liquid compounding at Symrise, noted the operational impact, stating, “The new plant increases our capacity by up to 50% and significantly shortens our delivery times. This makes us more flexible and enables us to better serve growing customer demand.”
The GEA-designed plant incorporates a fully integrated concept to manage the highly diverse and complex raw materials essential to flavour production. The design tackles stringent demands related to:
Safety: the facility includes explosion-proof (ATEX) design for handling alcohol-based solutions and measures to mitigate dust explosion risks associated with powders.
Material compatibility: specialised seals and material selection are used to handle corrosive substances like citrus oils.
Precision: the system must manage a vast viscosity range, from water-like to syrupy consistencies, and precise temperatures from -20°C to +80°C.
Hygiene and separation: the plant is customized to maintain absolute separation between incompatible recipes, such as strong-smelling menthol blends, sweet flavours, and kosher products, ensuring zero cross-contamination. GEA has leveraged customized components like hygienic seat valves and sampling valves to remove even the last product residues, minimizing batch loss.
In a move aligning with manufacturing efficiency and environmental mandates, the GEA plant incorporates several features focused on sustainability and resource efficiency. The system includes a heat recovery system for CIP (clean-in-place) return flows, which reuses process energy and reduces energy consumption per batch. Further measures, such as water-saving CIP cleaning and optimized insulation, reduce water and energy consumption, while heat recovery also helps meet environmental regulations by cooling wastewater.
Dr Lukas Schnöing, liquid food expert and project manager at GEA, commented, “This project demonstrates how vital customised solutions are for demanding applications. Our experience in processing complex liquid products… made this plant possible.”
The flexible design ensures that both existing and new formulations can be implemented quickly, giving Symrise a decisive advantage in responding to fast-moving market trends such as demand for natural flavours and clean-label products.
