IGV INSTITUT FUR GETREIDEVERARBEITUNG GMBH

Their core work

IGV GmbH is a German private research and development company specializing in cereal and plant-based food processing. They develop processes for extracting proteins and bioactive compounds from plant sources — including legumes, fungi, cereals, and aquatic biomass — and transform them into functional food ingredients like vegetal protein flakes. Their core capability lies in bridging laboratory-scale extraction and enzymatic hydrolysis techniques with industrial food product development, serving the growing demand for plant-based nutrition and novel food ingredients.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IGV's early H2020 work (2016–2017) centred on novel food sources and alternative growing systems — aquaculture, hydroponics, and biological nitrogen fixation — reflecting an exploratory phase around food security and nutrition. By 2018, their focus sharpened considerably toward industrial processing: extraction, enzymatic hydrolysis, and valorisation of bioactive ingredients from specific feedstocks like legumes, fungi, and coffee. This trajectory shows a clear move from upstream food system research toward downstream ingredient processing and product prototyping.

IGV is moving toward industrializing plant-based protein extraction and bioactive ingredient valorisation, making them increasingly relevant for companies developing alternative protein or functional food products.

How they like to work

IGV primarily operates as a project partner (3 of 4 projects) rather than a consortium leader, though they did coordinate one SME Phase 1 project (ProVegFlake), demonstrating initiative when pursuing their own product concepts. With 54 unique partners across 18 countries, they are well-connected for an SME of their size, indicating they are a trusted specialist that larger consortia actively recruit for food processing expertise. Their mix of RIA, BBI-RIA, and SME-1 funding shows comfort working across different collaboration formats.

IGV has built a broad European network of 54 unique consortium partners across 18 countries — an unusually wide reach for a small private company, suggesting they are a well-regarded specialist that research consortia seek out for food processing capabilities.

What sets them apart

IGV occupies a distinctive niche as a private SME with deep expertise in cereal and plant-based processing at the interface of research and industrial application. Unlike university labs that publish papers or large food companies that guard proprietary processes, IGV can serve as a flexible pilot-scale processing partner who translates extraction science into tangible food ingredient prototypes. Their name — Institut für Getreideverarbeitung (Institute for Cereal Processing) — signals decades of accumulated know-how in grain and plant processing that predates their H2020 participation.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Prolific
  Largest funding (EUR 440,712) and most technically ambitious — integrated cascaded extraction of proteins and bioactives from legumes, fungi, and coffee, reflecting IGV's core processing strength.
• ProVegFlake
  IGV's only coordinator role — an SME Phase 1 feasibility study for their own vegetal protein flake product concept, showing entrepreneurial ambition beyond contract research.
• BIOSEA
  BBI-JU funded project (EUR 390,216) on aquatic biomass processing for food and feed — demonstrates IGV can apply their extraction expertise beyond traditional plant sources.