CASE STUDY

DST’s novel plant-protein process creates optimized meat alternatives using precision servo motors

Accurate microdosing and integrated energy monitoring underpin breakthrough high shear meat-replacement technology.

develops and produces the next generation plant-based meat and fish substitutes. Its patented novel technology is the game-changing successor to existing production techniques outperforming in terms of flexibility and scalability. Adding multiple ingredients like proteins, oils, fats and flavoring during its texturization process enables DST to produce revolutionary long-fibered plant-based products.

Challenge

DST’s new plant-protein processing solution requires incredibly high levels of accuracy for microdosing to help ensure repeatability, consistency, and quality

Solution

A Rockwell Automation solution was installed, which included:

Allen‑Bradley® Kinetix® servo motors
PowerMonitor™ 5000 energy-monitoring unit
Allen‑Bradley® GuardLogix® safety controllers
Allen‑Bradley Power-Flex® 527 variable-speed drives
Studio 5000® design software

Result

Accuracy to within 1%
Precision energy monitoring, which feeds back into process parameters
Faster installation resulting in faster to market

The consumption of plant-protein-based products, including those formulated as meat substitutes, is seeing significant growth. Some of this is attributable to the well-documented health benefits, such as the additional fiber, vitamins and nutrients, but it is also because a plant-based diet contains fewer calories and less fat.

From a societal standpoint, water consumption is lower, and less land is needed, increasing efficiency. Greenhouse gas emissions tend to be lower, too, boosting sustainability credentials.

However, for all the benefits of a plant-based diet, it is challenging for food manufacturers to closely mimic the textures and flavors of the meat products they are replacing, which, in turn, fails to persuade traditional meat eaters to make the switch.

It is in this regard that Dutch Structuring Technology (DST

) is setting the pace, as a major disruptor to the status quo.

Based in Wageningen, in the Netherlands, DST was founded to commercialize next-generation plant-based long-fibered meat and fish substitutes, using new technologies and production techniques that are designed to outperform existing processes in terms of flavoring, flexibility and scalability.

Challenge

Many of the approaches currently deployed for processing and modifying plant proteins are based on older, heat intensive extrusion technologies that were not originally developed for these types of ingredients. Consequently, many of the leading meat-replacement producers are looking for the next big breakthrough.

Extrusion has several drawbacks, including quality fluctuations due to machine and parameter variations, high energy consumption that adds to the end-product’s costs, and degradation of ingredients due to the high pressures and temperatures used. In some cases, polysaccharides and antioxidants are added to address any flavor changes.

To compete on a level playing field, any new technologies and their resultant products must not only create and exhibit textures and flavors that more closely mimic the meat products they are replacing but do so at a price/cost point that makes them more competitive.

Furthermore, to create repeatable and more widely acceptable consistency and familiarity, the processes require exceptionally tight control and monitoring to help ensure that quality fluctuations don’t make consumers less inclined to switch to plant-based alternatives.

Solution

DST’s new SHEARTEX process is the innovation that food producers have been seeking, delivering products that are closer to a real meat-like texture.

Co-developed with Dutch mixing system specialist Sobatech

, and supported by Routeco

Netherlands, a Rockwell Automation authorized distributor partner, the SHEARTEX technology will not only widen the market in terms of texture/replacement possibilities, but will also bring costs down to a level comparable with current animal proteins, due, in part, to it using three times less energy than High-Moisture Extrusion Cooking (HMEC).

“Using precision control, SHEARTEX can create products with fibers that exhibit particular lengths and strengths, so they can more closely match the specific animal meat products they are replacing,“ explains Julian Lekner, co-founder of DST. “What is more, fats, emulsions and other wet ingredients, as well as dry ingredients, such as flavors and colors, can be added during the processing stage so that they form an intrinsic part of the textured protein, removing the need for the post-processing steps required in other production methods.”

“SHEARTEX is a continuous process,” explains Clint op den Buijsch, sales engineer at Routeco Netherlands. “Although this means DST can create a more realistic meat alternative in terms of texture and flavor, it does require very precise control of the mixing and microdosing, which is why Sobatech and DST opted for a solution driven by Allen‑Bradley® Kinetix® servo motors.”

The servo motors form part of a tightly integrated suite of control and monitoring technologies supplied by Routeco, which includes a PowerMonitor™ 5000 energy-monitoring unit, Allen‑Bradley® GuardLogix® safety controllers, Allen‑Bradley Power-Flex® 527 variable-speed drives, and Studio 5000® design software.

Result

“Our SHEARTEX produces high-quality protein products – with textures ranging from salmon to beef jerky – at 1,000 kg per hour, using far less energy than existing processes,” Lekner explains. “This not only means we are able to put a wider variety of plant-based meat on everyone’s table, but also, the cost of our products will be close to current animal meats.”

Op den Buijsch adds: “The micro dosing of the ingredients in the continuous process can only be achieved with servo motors, as it is crucial to keep the tare weight of the dosing hopper as low as possible. The servo-controlled dosing hoppers must achieve a dosing accuracy of within 1% when dispensing what can be expensive and strong-flavored micro-powders.”

“Another critical aspect of the DST process is the amount of mechanical energy applied to achieve the desired texture,” explains Geneviève Lekner, managing director of Sobatech, “and this energy value has a correlation with the quality of the final product. Energy monitoring solutions from Rockwell are particularly well-suited for capturing and analyzing this critical data, providing valuable insights that enable the optimization and control of production processes.”

Looking at the bigger picture, the tightly integrated solution from Rockwell also helps Sobatech reduce its time to market. Reduced cabling from the device level ring (DLR) network topology and the integrated Safe Torque Off functionality of the PowerFlex drives, results in a faster installation phase, saving up to 50% in total time.

Published April 2, 2025