The DIL and Handtmann as cooperation partner

German Institute for Food Technology (DIL) and Handtmann as cooperation partner

“Handtmann supports us with know-how and machines. We deploy Handtmann technology in our research work and in our projects wherever we need to fill or portion something."

As an internationally renowned, non-university research institute,the DIL (Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik, German Institute for Food Technology) sees itself as a link between scienceand practice . The institute’s aim is to transfer research findings intopractice. Automation technology, product  innovation, food physics,microbiological analytics and food  authenticity are only some of thecurrent research areas . The institute today has a useful area andworking area  of around 9,000 square metres, including a new building with technical training facility providing room for innovation.

Technical training facility providing room for innovation


Apart from providing space for research and development, the newbuilding is also of major  importance for the cooperation with companies.Besides the new  technical training facility, which provides room forthe development and  testing of new technologies and is approved asa food  producing operation, the DIL also has an extended mechanicalengineering facility. Innovative concepts  can therefore find theirdirect way into practice by means of professional plant engineering,supplemented by a “Business and Innovation Park Quakenbrück” (BIQ) for companies and for founders, who are located there and can benefitfrom the  capacities available at the DIL. The institute’s new technical training facility  uses a Handtmann VF 608 plus vacuum filler for various trials.

Dr. Nino Terjung –  Head of the Product Innovation division

Dr. Nino Terjung heads  the Product Innovation division at the DIL.Following an apprenticeship  to become a butcher and a short time as a journeyman, he passed his examination for the master craftsman’scertificate with  distinction at the age of 18. After completing his studies of food  technology in Lemgo with a bachelor’s degree in meat technology, he continued his studies  for a master’s degree at the Technical University of Munich with a thesis on flavour development in raw sausage. For his doctorate under Prof. Dr. Jochen Weiss at the University Hohenheim, he remained in the field of meat research and completed his doctorate as part of a FEI (Forschungskreis der Ernährungsindustrie, Research Association of the German Food Industry) project on antimicrobial active ingredient combinations for meat products. After an initial position as Head of Meat Technology at the DIL in Quakenbrück, the 31-year-old is today responsible for the Product Innovation division. As initiator of several research projects for the meat industry and founder of a start-up for the development of a physical process as an alternative to the controversial foie gras, Terjungwas awarded the Förderpreis der Fleischwirtschaft in the science category in 2017. “I am proud of what I am doing and do not consider it a remarkable career. I have simply taken one step after the other,”says Terjung, “and when I do something, I do it 100 % – which doesn’tnecessarily mean that I am occupied with only one thing at a time. And yes, I like the meat industry!”

Handtmann supports us with know-how and machines. We deploy Handtmann technology in our research work and in our projects wherever we need to fill or portion something.

Dr. Nino Terjung, Head of the Product Innovation division

Successful transfer from research into practice


How does the DIL bring research and practice together? “The wonderful thing about the DIL is that our research is very implementation-oriented or practice-oriented in pre-competitive research projects and is equally
sought after in direct industrial developments. Both is possible,” explains Dr. Terjung. The transfer of research results into practice is achieved through application. “Simply by applying what we have learned,” he
confirms and continues: “In a research project or in research in general,we learn about the behaviour of materials or machines. We are able to transfer what we have learned because we work at the DIL andcustomers come to us or we disseminate our findings through various channels. We are thus in turn confronted with questions or problems.” Current challenges in the food and meat processing industry. The DIL operates, among others, in the fields of food safety, process engineering and sustainability, because it considers these to be currently relevant to both the general food processing as well as the meat processing industry in particular, as the head of research confirms: “Yes,and all of the above fields in equal shares.” A large part of the researchis conducted in the field of applied food sciences. For food processing companies, this means in concrete terms: “Every time a problem comes
up that seems to be too big for a single food processor, the company can simply contact us. We then have the possibility to translate the problem into a research question and to conduct our research together – or with partners – to be able to then offer options for solution.

The DIL and Handtmann as cooperation partner

For the sake of a continuous innovation process along the entirevalue chain of food products, the DIL enters into cooperations withpartners, including Handtmann. In the past, there have been and still are cooperations on research projects. The institute’s technical training facility uses a Handtmann VF 608 plus vacuum filler. For ongoing research projects a VF 838 S6 vacuum filler with the appropriate attachments for minced meat is used.

Handtmann sides with Terjung’s start-up
Handtmann sees itself as in particular as companion and reliable partner at the side of start-up companies in particular. Dr. Nino Terjungis also founder of a start-up and know about the special challenges:

It has taken several attempts until we found the machine that works perfectly for my purposes. Today I also have a Handtmann machine in my start-up and what I like particularly about this cooperation, is that I can call anyone at any time at Handtmann, no matter in which department of the company.

Dr. Nino Terjung

DIL acts as a link between science and practice

The German Institute for Food Technology is an internationally renowned non-university research institute with around 200 exports in food technology and food sciences. It sees itself
as a link between science and practice. The institute’s aim is to transfer research findings into practice. Automation technology, product innovation, food physics, microbiological
analytics and food authenticity are only some of the current research areas. Assuming the coordination of the EU research network “Hightech Europe” marked the starting point for many other international projects and cooperations. An extension building in 2011 increased the institute’s usefuland working area by 6,000 square metres to its current size of around 9,000 square metres.