PeelPioneers

Do you like drinking fresh orange juice? The pressing machines in supermarkets and catering establishments are good for enormous mountains of orange peels. PeelPioneers’ mission is to save all citrus residues and convert them into valuable ingredients, thereby keeping them an extra round in the food chain.

PeelPioneers extracts natural ingredients from the peel that are used in food, cosmetics and cleaning products. This means they reuse 100% of the peel. Their innovation lab is constantly investigating how more value can be extracted from peels. A result of this is the Finix citrus fiber, which provides firmness, structure and the right mouthfeel to, for example, meat substitutes and muffins.

Peelpioneers first became eligible in 2018 with Nuutro – then still D&W. They had just raised financing for the first ‘demo’ factory. A factory with which they wanted to demonstrate that their idea was viable. The choice for Nuutro was quickly made.

Sytze: “For us, openness, approachability and thinking along were essential. You showed this in the conversations, not only on the website, but also in practice. It felt to us as if you wanted to invest in ideas, even before it came to paying for time. You took us on a journey, from the concept phase to the final realization. Starting with open conversations, thinking about the concept, and showing the necessary steps in engineering and implementation really helped.”

Nuutro subsequently took on an important part of the engineering for the first factory in Son and the second factory in Den Bosch. Sytze says the following about this:

Sytze: “Your strength is really thinking along and being constructively critical, combined with an impressive mix of engineering skills and your own workshop for testing. Testing is not just an investment in time and money; it always yields returns. Moreover, you have the ability to operate independently of technology and you even dare to tackle unknown points. This shows a unique approach to engineering.”

After the engineering process, Nuutro was involved in the pre-fabrication and on-site assembly of various process lines in both factories.

Sytze: “The success of Nuutro really comes from the people and their passion. We have experienced that your team works with extreme dedication, even when the challenges are great.”

PeelPioneers is enthusiastic about the collaboration and proud of the results achieved so far.

Sytze: “What makes Nuutro so unique is that a small team from Uden has left such a big mark on quite a few circular factories in the Netherlands. You know the industry and dare to make brand-independent choices, which others may not be able or dare to do. This brand independence and the ability to look together for the best design of the project, combined with expertise in Process engineering, E/I and automation under one roof, make you a valuable partner for sustainable projects.”

When asked what Sytze is most proud of:

Sytze: It has finally become normal that somewhere in Den Bosch every day 50,000 kilos of peels, which used to simply disappear and were literally undervalued, are now converted into ingredients. These ingredients find their way back into the cycle and the food industry. It is truly a creative process, tangible and concrete. You can kick it – the machines that are there, the people who work there. This was not there before, and now it has become a reality.