Zentis and Bitburger Brewery Group streamline process for plant-based milk alternatives

Food and drinks manufacturers will now enjoy a faster route to market in the manufacture of products that contain plant-based milk alternatives.

Fruit experts Zentis Group are teaming up with Bitburger Brewery Group to launch the new compound – with the first two oat products now available. This joint venture is geared towards improving the taste and experience of milk alternatives.

Under the name of V-Comp Pro – the new joint venture between Zentis and Bitburger Brewery Group – the two are now distributing customisable compound solutions for the fast and simple production of plant-based milk alternatives, starting with oats.

The venture will introduce two product lines, Oat Pro and Oat Pro Plus, as the market for milk substitutes continues to grow rapidly. According to a study by GFI Europe, in 2022, the sector of plant-based milk alternatives grew by 13% to €552 million. Oat is the fastest-growing plant-based milk alternative according to data from Nielsen, now making up 52% of the category in the UK.

V-Comp Pro has been created to combine the expertise, passion, and commitment of both established companies to consistently develop natural and flavoursome solutions for customers.

All V-Comp Pro compounds are certified organic and are tailored to meet the manufacturing requirements for producing flavourful next-generation plant-based food and drink concepts. In addition to outstanding taste and product quality, business partners and customers can rely on a holistic and customised service offering.

The joint venture aims its compound solutions – which serve as a basis for vegan milk alternatives – at both established providers and new market entrants.

“Whether drinkable or spoonable – with the modular, customisable V-Comp Pro compound solutions, our partners have the opportunity to generate and refine a wide variety of end products,” explains Felix Weber, sales and marketing director of V-Comp Pro.

Volker Keßler, managing director at V-Comp Pro, adds: “Our customers can quickly, flexibly, and simply bring product concepts to the market, consistently offering new products with a naturally authentic and particularly enjoyable taste – both for B2C and the food and drink sector – thereby creating a new generation of even better-tasting vegan food concepts

“Younger target groups are increasingly limiting their consumption of traditional dairy products. At the same time, this demographic associates with qualities such as experience, individuality, and new dietary habits and needs.

Both partners, Zentis and Bitburger Brewery Group, have an equal stake in V-Comp Pro. The founding companies generate natural synergies, as explained by Karl-Heinz Johnen, managing director of Zentis: “At Zentis, we have deep knowledge of the international B2B market in the categories of spoonable and drinkable dairy products and milk alternatives. At the same time, we accompany our customers along the entire value chain today. We are happy to bring this knowledge into the joint venture, forming the perfect symbiosis with Bitburger Brewery Group. Like Zentis, they have extensive expertise and valuable know-how in the production of oat-based products, among other things.”

Currently, the Bitburger Brewery Group produces grain-based precursors in its home region of Hesse in central Germany. “From our perspective, plant-based products are a future-oriented and innovative business field. Together with Zentis as a strong partner, we focus on optimal synergy utilisation, creating an exclusive service offering for B2B customers,” explains Markus Spanier, managing director of Bitburger Brewery Group. “Together we want to approach the marketing and distribution of compounds, for which there is a rapidly growing market, in order to create an ideal foundation for sustainable success in this high growth sector.”

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