PLANT BASED DAIRY ALTERNATIVES 2022
Plant-based products
without dogma
What makes Berief Food successful
Berief Food GmbH, based in Beckum is one of the
most successful plant-based products companies
in Germany. Benefiting from the general
trend towards alternative protein supply, turnover
increased by almost 1,300% to €90 million between
2009 and 2021. IDM asked Bernd Eßer, Managing Director,
about the reasons for success.
"The family company Berief Foods has its beginning
in an idea, after a trip to Asia in 1985. Here, they
studied tofu production and designed a machine with
which tofu could be produced in better quality. However,
the machine concept came too early, the market
was far from being ready for alternative vegetable
products. The Beriefs stuck to their idea anyway and
jumped into tofu production without further ado," explains
Bernd Eßer.
Manufacture gives way to industry
Berief Foods has long since left the initial production
method, which was more like a manufactory, behind.
At the latest with the construction of a second factory
in 2016, the company is pursuing a course as an industrial
manufacturer. In doing so, Berief does not rely
10 · January/February 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com
Bernd Eßer, Managing
Director, Berief Food:
Our products have a
unique character, we do
not want to imitate dairy
products in any way
on standard processes, but on technology developed
in-house, which is implemented by renowned machine
manufacturers. The focus is always on how the raw
materials can be handled even more gently in order to
achieve ever better product quality.
The growth of Berief Foods is also reflected in the
number of employees. Whereas in 2009 there were
only about 30 employees, today 358 people work in
the two Beckum factories. Production takes place in
three shifts, six days a week. In the pandemic year
2020 alone, the workforce was increased by 100,
whereas in normal years it is usually up by about 30.
Berief Food manufactures a broad range of plant-based drinks
/international-dairy.com
