Bühler Group has introduced a wave of major innovations and upgrades across its grains & food portfolio in the wake of the Interpack 2026 exhibition.
Designed to help food, feed, and confectionery manufacturers navigate increasingly volatile markets, fluctuating raw-material prices, and rising safety expectations, the new developments target improvements in processing efficiency, resource conservation, and operational flexibility. By combining hygienic design principles with digital solutions and integrated intelligence, the upgrades aim to increase overall equipment efficiency (OEE) while lowering energy consumption.
Excellence in cocoa and chocolate production
At the starting point of the chocolate value chain, Bühler has launched the Lucent cocoa roaster to replace its legacy Tornado model. The system is engineered to optimise both energy and product yield. Compared to its predecessor, the Lucent roaster “uses at least 20% less energy per batch of cocoa and delivers up to 20% higher throughput, while minimising yield loss.”
The system uses predictive, self-learning controls to allow operators to achieve consistent results without requiring deep mechanical expertise.
Further down the processing line, Bühler’s Chocolate Business Unit has rolled out the Finer S Edition 26 five-roll refiner and the ELK S Edition 26 single-shaft conche.
Commenting on the refiner upgrade, Skeljzen Nesimi, head of product management, chocolate & flavor creation at Bühler, said:
“Our five-roll refiner has been a trusted technology in chocolate production for many years. With Edition 26, we have focused on enhancing the user experience and supporting customers with improvements in operation, maintenance, hygiene, reliability, and energy performance.”
Addressing the single-shaft conche, Nesimi added: “We have refined several elements of the machine to make day-to-day operation and servicing more straightforward. The latest edition includes a new automation system and further developments aimed at hygiene, maintenance, and overall production efficiency.”
For flexible chocolate mass production, the company is highlighting CompactMix, which pairs the ShearMix system with the Aurora ball mill. The unit achieves particle sizes below 20 microns while consuming up to 30% less energy than conventional models.
For final shaping, the modular ChocoX moulding line allows manufacturers to pivot quickly between solid, filled, and aerated products on a single line. Modules can be swapped out within 30 minutes, drastically accelerating product development cycles.
According to András Somfai, head of product management confectionery at Bühler: “The moulding line can be expanded step by step and easily configured to a growing product portfolio. No more cost and time-intensive line modifications. Modules can be added or exchanged within 30 minutes, while the automation system automatically detects new line setups. This shortens the introduction of new products significantly, reducing time-to-market for new products by four to five months.”
Redesigning food and feed extrusion
For the cereal, snack, pet food, and meat alternative sectors, Bühler has introduced the Nutrex 7 Series extruder, focusing on hygiene and accessibility to maximise production uptime.
By raising the base frame for better ground clearance and relocating the hydraulic box to the side, Bühler has doubled cleaning efficiency, reducing maintenance downtime by approximately 50% at initial customer sites.
Stefanie Hardtmann, product manager value nutrition at Bühler, explained the design philosophy: “We concentrated on a holistic approach based on four main categories: hygienic design, process stability, integrated intelligence, and service excellence. All with the goal of increasing overall equipment efficiency (OEE) for our customers.”
Hardtmann noted that accessibility was central to the machine’s overhaul: “Externally, we opted for a slimmer extruder design. The elevated base frame provides greater ground clearance, and the hydraulic box has been moved from the base frame to the side of the extruder. This allows direct access for cleaning equipment, simplifying the process and reducing cleaning time.”
High-precision biscuit and wafer baking
In the bakery sector, Bühler is expanding its Smartline portfolio with the TurbuBake Smart gas tunnel oven and the RotaMold Max Smart rotary molder, alongside the new SoftDrop depositor.
Céline Vachet, head of product management biscuit at Bühler, commented on the bakery expansion: “With TurbuBake Smart and RotaMold Max Smart, we are further expanding our Smartline portfolio with solutions that combine efficiency, flexibility, and ease of use. At the same time, SoftDrop broadens our offering with a versatile solution for soft mass depositing, helping manufacturers address a wider range of applications with a cost-competitive setup.”
The RotaMold Max Smart supports high-speed lines up to 40 meters per minute while ensuring a weight and shape coefficient variation of 1% or less. Meanwhile, the TurbuBake Smart oven utilises an optimised airflow concept to cut energy consumption by up to 15% compared to standard models.
For wafer producers, Bühler’s inductive OptiBake wafer oven reduces energy consumption by up to 50% compared to conventional gas-heated systems, completely eliminating direct CO₂ emissions from the baking process.
Johannes Greil, head of product management wafer at Bühler, stated: “With OptiBake, we are demonstrating that sustainability and performance do not have to be competing priorities. Manufacturers benefit from significantly lower energy consumption while gaining greater control and consistency in the baking process.”