Hillenbrand, Coperion, and Purdue University hosted a dedication event at the Purdue Food Science Pilot Lab to commemorate the donation of a Coperion ZSK 27 Mv PLUS Extruder. The donated extruder, valued at more than $900,000 is an important addition to Purdue's Food Science Pilot Lab because it expands testing capabilities within the alternative protein food category and provides Purdue students with hands-on opportunities.

Over the past year, Hillenbrand has continued to increase its scale within the food end market through the acquisitions of Linxis, Peerless, Gabler, and its recent announcement of a definitive agreement to acquire the Schenck Process Food and Performance Materials business. As a pure-play industrial leader in highly-engineered, mission-critical processing solutions serving large and growing end markets, Hillenbrand leverages its people, products, and partnerships to positively impact the world and create shareholder value.

Purdue Food Science faculty conduct research in a variety of disciplines including, food chemistry, structure and function, foods for health, food safety and microbiology, and food processing and technology development. The goal of the Purdue University Food Science Pilot Plant is to advance the application of food manufacturing technologies through scalable trials and hands-on training to enhance the future of food production. The Pilot Plant is part of Purdue's Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute, a group established to support innovation and growth in the food industry.

Extruders are a critical piece of equipment for the food processing industry. Coperion's ZSK 27 Mv PLUS Extruder is commonly used to make products such as snacks, ready-to-eat cereals, and alternative proteins. Coperion's extruder technology plays a major role in the production of alternative proteins due to the high product quality output and maximum flexibility.

Through this partnership, Coperion's North American customers will have access to Purdue's food-grade pilot lab along with the Purdue food scientists to aid them in developing and testing alternative protein products before they go to market.

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