REINBEK, GERMANY — SCHULE Mühlenbau is building Europe's largest oat mill for Navara Oat Milling Ltd. in Great Britain. When the contract was signed in September 2021, it was agreed that commissioning would take place in 2023. A turnkey project in the "Golden Triangle" of England.

The NAVARA project is based on a joint venture between Camgrain, Frontier and Anglia Maltings. With these three companies, decades of experience in agriculture, grain handling and malt and plant cultivation come together. Another key to success is the location of the oat mill: NAVARA is located in the middle of the so-called "Golden Triangle" between Birmingham, Cambridge and Oxford.

Within a few hours' drive, the UK's largest logistics centers of the best-known retailers can be reached, which supply 90 per cent of the population with food. Philip Darke, operation director of Camgrain said, “Navara oat milling are very pleased to be working with the expertise of Schule in this groundbreaking project.”

Mark Aitchison, managing director of Frontier and chairman of the new joint venture, said, “There’s increasing demand for oat ingredients in healthy food products and non-dairy drinks. The investment by the three strategic partners will help meet that demand. Our collective vision is to build and grow a dedicated oat supply chain, bringing farmer and food manufacturer closer together, and delivering improvements that benefit each sector, and the environment. We will work together on realizing the huge potential of oats, embracing all that they can deliver in provenance, traceability and sustainability. Navara will create supply chain efficiency and the food and drink industries will benefit from the investments we’ll make not just in processing, but also in growing, oats. Collaboration with farmers supplying the new mill will see value added in areas such as agronomy advice, seed variety choice and development, quality and sustainability.”

George Thompson, group CFO of Anglia Maltings Holdings, said, “This ground-breaking partnership can bring focus on what is perhaps the most underrated cereal crop in the Northern Hemisphere, and we’re delighted to be part of it.

“By combining our experience, expertise and ambition with that of Camgrain and Frontier, we can explore the true potential of oats. That’s in terms of reaching new markets as well as in terms of research, innovation and new products for existing oat-ingredient markets.

“The joint venture is launching at a time when the importance of, nutritious, plant-based ingredients has become more widely recognized. Provenance and sustainability are part of that agenda. Domestically grown and milled oats are part of the answer. With its brand-new, purpose-built mill, Navara Oat Milling will be well positioned to support food and drink manufacturers in providing consumers with healthy, responsible and tasty choices.”

This turnkey project, which was designed with the support of Food Factory Associates Ltd., includes the supply of separate processing lines for cleaning, sorting, hulling, kilning, groat cutting, flaking and oatmeal production as well as the mechanical and electrical installation of the plant. In addition, a pelleting line supplied by the sister company AMANDUS KAHL will be used for compacting by-products, which will then be further processed.

Navara Oat Milling will be a brand new, purpose built state of the art processing plant

 "We are very happy that Navara has chosen us as a partner for the construction of the largest state-of-the-art oat mill in Europe. From the design, diagramming, automation and technology to the variety of different end products, the project is unique and another milestone for our company.

“Last year, we successfully commissioned one of the most modern mills for the production of organic and gluten-free oats in Europe, among other things. Now, with Navara, we have another strategic partner at our side. This makes us proud and shows us that we meet the highest demands of modern milling with our technology and know-how," said Uwe Wehrmann, CEO of the Kahl Group.

Simon Willis, CEO of Camgrain said, “This is great news for our farmer members as it expands opportunities for them with an increasingly sought-after cereal grain. It’s good to be bringing advanced technology to the UK food supply chain, adding value not just to farmers, but also to the local community.

More information about the process technologies of Schule Mühlenbau can be found on the website www.schulefood.com.