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GEA has announced it is constructing a large-scale mixing plant for flavour production for Symrise, at the flavour producer’s main production site in Holzminden, Lower Saxony, Germany.

GEA’s turnkey process technology will enable Symrise to enhance flexibility and increase its production capacity. Installation of the plant began in summer 2025, with commissioning planned for spring 2026.

Flavours produced by Symrise at the site – including vanilla extracts, citrus oils, meat flavours and menthol-based essences – are used both for internal processing and as ingredients supplied to the food and beverage industry. They are used across a wide range of product applications, including yogurts, confectionery, ready meals and beverages.

Symrise processes a variety of raw materials at Holzminden, from alcohol-based solutions to viscous syrups. Advanced technologies are required to meet stringent safety and product quality standards.

Ethanol-containing products require explosion-proof design, while powders pose additional dust explosion risks. Meanwhile, substances like citrus oils are aggressive to certain materials and require special seals. The viscosity range, from water-like liquids to syrupy consistencies, and temperatures between –20°C and +80°C, demand precise process control. Additionally, strong-smelling menthol blends, kosher recipes and sweet flavours must remain entirely separated.

The new plant delivers a fully integrated concept to meet these diverse needs. At the heart of the building is a spacious mixing area, where raw materials from the adjacent tank farm or from containers, are transferred to the mixing tanks via vacuum conveying. Powders are added through a dedicated filling nozzle and the homogenous mixtures are then transferred to cooling tanks for maturation, or directly to the filling line.

The plant is connected to a cleaning and steaming system, and features a heat recovery system for CIP return flows, which reuses part of the process energy and reduces energy consumption per batch. Additional measures, like water-saving CIP cleaning and optimised insulation, reduce water and energy use further. Heat recovery improves efficiency and helps meet environmental regulations, as wastewater is cooled to below 30°C.

GEA noted that the diversity of the flavours processed places high demands on process control, material selection and complete product emptying to minimise losses. The company has developed customised solutions for Symrise with this in mind, leveraging the flexibility of its components, such as hygienic seat valves with bellows and sampling valves designed to remove product residues. These solutions were designed in close cooperation with the ingredients company, refined through 3D planning to integrate seamlessly into the plant.

Karsten Zota, factory manager of liquid compounding at Symrise, said: “The production of liquid flavours is one of Symrise's core competencies. 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.”

Both existing and new formulations can be implemented efficiently at the plant, enabling Symrise to quickly respond to market trends such as natural flavours and clean label products.

Lukas Schnöing, liquid food expert and project manager at GEA, said: “This project demonstrates how vital customised solutions are for demanding applications. Our experience in processing complex liquid products, combined with precise project management and the ability to engineer tailored solutions, made this plant possible.”