GEA Insights
Engineering for a better world
Making milk production more sustainable for a growing world
The world's population is growing and with it demand for milk. Dairy is an essential component of many global diets. However, its production can be resource-intensive and impact the environment. GEA’s Christian Müller, Senior Director Sustainability Farm Technologies, sheds light on how technological innovations powered by GEA make milk production more efficient and profitable.
Clean machines safe food: The power of hygienic design
Every safe beverage and bite of food is a victory against invisible microbial threats – a battle shaped by a century of hygienic process design. With more than 100 years of engineering and hygienic design know-how, GEA sets the industry standard for processing equipment that protects food and saves lives.
Filtration sensation: The washing machine principle
Engineering innovation often takes the form of incremental gains. Once in a while, it takes a leap. Case in point: The washing machine. Launched in September 2022, two new GEA software solutions are upending convention and delivering similarly dramatic efficiency gains in the resource-intensive process of membrane filtration.
GEA Service: The lifeline behind the world's production lines
Every fourth package of spaghetti, every second liter of beer and one-quarter of all processed milk in the world depends on GEA machinery. When production lines need attention, GEA Service steps in to fix problems or prevent issues from occurring in the first place. By combining machine and process knowledge with digital tools and solutions, GEA helps customers boost productivity and produce more sustainably.
New pump facility in Poland reshapes hygienic manufacturing
GEA’s facility in Koszalin, Poland, sets a benchmark in hygienic pump production. The multi-purpose site combines decades of German engineering expertise with advanced digitalization and scalable solutions. A bold step to meet the growing demands of industries like food, beverage and pharmaceuticals.
In for the better: Community engagement at GEA
To support community engagement, GEA offers employees one day of paid time off per year.
How a digital rotary parlor supports sustainable dairy farming
How do you lead a dairy farm into the next generation while ensuring a sustainable future and animal welfare while managing increasing complexity? This is a question almost every dairy farmer around the world must consider. The Hanenberg family from the Netherlands opted for modern technology and digitalization to secure their future. Brothers Teun and Joris Hanenberg have been running a farm with 280 cows. Laying the foundation for a farming future suitable for their children was a key motivation for their investment in modern equipment.
A strategy for the better: CEO interview on GEA's Mission 30
After reaching its Mission 26 targets two years early, GEA launches Mission 2030 strategy with focus on growth, value and making a positive impact.
Blu-Red software accelerates emission-reducing energy tech
As more communities and businesses rely on district heat pump plants and emission-neutral refrigeration technology, ensuring they provide a continuous supply is of vital importance. GEA’s InsightPartner Blu-Red Care management software is helping operators make unplanned downtime a thing of the past.
Shaping the future of resource-efficient wood fiber insulation production
Committed to bring Swiss production of wood insulation boards back to life, Lignatherm AG is counting on GEA’s innovative three-stage solution for water treatment to recycle nearly 100% of effluent water from wood fiber manufacture. The process will cut freshwater consumption and resource use to a minimum.
Tailored milking equipment supports cow and farmer well-being
Healthy and happy cows are the key to successful and sustainable milk production. Keeping their cows healthy, therefore, is at the heart of every dairy farmer’s effort. Many factors influence the well-being of a cow, such as proper feeding according to the individual cow’s needs, good housing conditions and fresh air, water and light. But also, the way cows are milked has a huge impact on their health condition. GEA is well known for its Good Cow Milking philosophy and is constantly working to further develop and achieve better results in animal health and milk quality.
Achieving net zero with GEA's engineering solutions
Industries across the board are working hard to meet net-zero targets while navigating stringent decarbonization regulations and legislation. At the same time, companies must balance growing demands for quality, product development and process optimization, all while striving to improve profitability. This challenge requires a collaborative and holistic approach like the one offered by GEA.
At the table for … new food: Crafting the future of our food
Coffee, cocoa, milk, meat, fish and eggs – these daily staples rely heavily on intensive agriculture. With the rise of new food technologies, we have more sustainable alternatives. We sat down with Dr. Reimar Gutte, Senior Vice President for Liquid, Fermentation & Filling at GEA, to explore the possibilities and politics.
Innovating patient care with aseptic spray drying
At GEA, our commitment to engineering for a better world fuels our pursuit of innovative solutions that enhance patient care and safety. One of our most promising ventures in recent years is aseptic spray drying – a technology that promises to revolutionize pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Fermenting change: Three keys to a bright future for brewers
Breweries that become more flexible, sustainable and digital can more easily adapt to the changing beer market.
Lecithin: When a byproduct slips into the main role
Lecithin holds a special place in the heart of GEA Product Sales Manager Patrick Schürmann. The versatile substance has gone from having a supporting role in edible oil refining to being the star of the highly competitive and low-margin edible oil refining market. This is due in no small part to the new, innovative and energy-saving process developed by Schürmann and his colleagues.
Paving the way to careers in STEM
With kids returning to school this autumn, GEA will be back too, engaging with students of all ages to promote careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). For GEA, building a more robust STEM workforce is one of the keys to driving innovation and tackling today’s complex global challenges.
Bringing centrifuges up to speed with sustainability
Every drop and every kilowatt hour count when it comes to centrifuge development.
GEA has been building centrifuges for over 130 years – something you wouldn’t think is in question every day. Jürgen Mackel, Vice President Product Line Separators at GEA, and Christian Becker, Product Manager responsible for the dairy centrifuge portfolio, do precisely this – consistently coming up with new solutions that live up to the demands of technical progress, current market conditions and all aspects of sustainability. Read on for insight into what the art of engineering at GEA brings to the production halls of a wide range of industries around the world.
GEA’s solar journey: powering a sustainable future
Through investments in renewable energy, GEA is lowering its CO2 emissions around the world.
On the menu: more sustainable eggs
GEA helps customers test and scale alternative egg products and ingredients made with precision fermentation.
Decarbonizing processes with industrial heat pumps
When it comes to improving the health of the planet, GEA takes a leading role. As one of our sustainability-focused strategic objectives, we are forging a path to help our customers across myriad industries to reduce energy use and lower their carbon emissions in meaningful and measurable ways. This includes the use of GEA heat pump systems.
Building resilience into the olive oil industry
Learn how GEA supports the olive oil industry in times of climate change and sustainably improves the profitability of producers with innovative technologies.
Inspiring the next generation of women engineers
Meet Anne, Carolina and Annika, female engineers at GEA, who are breaking industry barriers and inspiring future generations.
GEA minimizes dairy cow lameness with AI solution
GEA CattleEye alerts dairy farmers when cows are lame, enabling them to address health issues quickly to ensures optimal cow health and milk yield.
GEA solutions enable fiber-to-fiber recycling of textiles
Chemical recycling solutions from GEA allow mixed fiber textiles with PET to be recycled and made into new sustainable clothing.
Advancing continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing
GEA and partners innovate flexible continuous processing technologies, transforming pharmaceutical development and manufacturing for a modernized future.
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Perfusion separators speed up biopharma processes
Small biopharma manufacturing outfits are often the driving force behind the proliferation of innovative medical treatments. GEA is revolutionizing cell harvesting capabilities for these manufacturers with perfusion separators that enable efficiency-optimized continuous processing. For the first time, suitable disk stack separators have been transformed into compact single-use machines saving space, labor and effort while paving the way for increased production output and speed.
GEA brings alternative protein expertise to U.S.
A new GEA technology center for developing alternatives to meat, dairy, seafood and eggs in Wisconsin, will help accelerate novel food production in the U.S. market
GEA celebrates 150 years of industry leadership in brewing
Explore innovation, sustainability and history in 150 years of brewing technology at GEA
Future-proofing the cold chain with sustainable refrigeration
The importance of quality cold chain management cannot be underestimated. Ensuring that perishable foodstuffs are safe and of high quality at the point of consumption is a tremendous responsibility for those operating cold chain facilities. GEA is at the forefront of providing safe and sustainable refrigeration technology for cold storage and distribution centers, helping customers to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions for their facilities.
How batch milking supports sustainable dairy farming
The latest evolution in automated milking introduces batch milking – a dairy farming practice where cows are milked in groups at fixed milking times, usually two or three times per day. The automation technology is helping to overcome recent challenges of dairy farmers to balance cow welfare, flexibility and sustainability on their dairy farms while continuously optimizing their cost structures and becoming more and more efficient.
GEA supports clean water projects in Tanzania
Access to safe water and sanitation is still a challenge in a lot of countries. Illness from dirty drinking water and daily treks to fetch it, mean many children cannot attend school. Thanks to a collaboration with Hamburg-based non-profit Viva con Agua, GEA helps bring clean water to several schools in Tanzania – using some very magical technology.
GEA employees are people with purpose
In pursuit of its core mission – Engineering for a better world – GEA is building an employer of choice culture that offers employees the opportunity to reimagine solutions, collaborate across disciplines and contribute to a transformational moment for industries across the globe.
Exploring the water footprint of milk, cheese, chocolate & more
We have compiled for you the amount of water it takes to produce favorite brunch ingredients. As our freshwater resources are increasingly threatened by climate change and pollution, we at GEA are working on technologies to help reduce water consumption and wastewater volumes in industry on a large scale, especially in dairy and food production.
Next level dewatering for wastewater
Wastewater treatment plants are essential for our modern lives. But how can their operation be continuously advanced and improved? What has long been a challenge in terms of optimization has now been achieved: the automatic control of decanters for sludge dewatering. The smart solution from GEA Intellicant operates these decanters better than humans were previously able to. Christian Schramm, product manager commercial for Digital Products at GEA, told us more about the full potential of these smart machines in an interview.
Brains of steel: AI drives sustainability for GEA and its customers
With modern sensor technologies, cloud connectivity and advanced analytics firmly in place, GEA is now adding a layer of intelligence to its hard-working machines. The results demonstrate the power of AI to take production processes to new levels of performance and sustainability.
Innovation is in the air
The atmosphere in Europe has rarely felt so palpably rural as it has during the first months of 2024: With their tractors and manure tankers in tow, protesting farmers in the capitals of Berlin, Paris and Brussels and elsewhere, are drawing attention to the fact that restructuring the world’s food system is a societal task and cannot be borne by farmers alone. Against this backdrop, GEA joined a panel of experts recently in Berlin to discuss practical solutions for enabling more sustainable agriculture.
Lemgo's pioneering district heating project
The town of Lemgo in northwestern Germany has a city center with half-timbered houses and attractive stone buildings. Nevertheless, officials plan to generate up to 80 percent of the district heating needed for the city from renewable sources.
Automation makes a difference for cows, humans and planet
Feeding their cows is one of the most important tasks and daily routines of dairy farmers all over the world. Proper feeding not only keeps cows healthy but also lays the foundation to produce plenty of high-quality milk. But in times of rising energy costs and shortages of hired labor, the pressure is on. GEA's autonomously driving feeding robot addresses these hurdles to free up time, optimize milk yields and preserve cow health.
GEA's defrosting solution sees success at CIAL in Chile
GEA knows there's a better way to defrost food that saves time, improves yield, enhances product quality, is more hygienic and, importantly, is more sustainable. Cold steam defrosting been around since the early 1990s, and it’s already accepted as a trusted technology of many food processing companies, including CIAL, the leading manufacturer of fine cured meat products in Chile.
Industry approach for reducing Scope 3 emissions
How businesses can reduce their Scope 3 emissions by setting a net-zero target and working with partners to decrease emissions along entire value chains.
Precision fermentation advances sustainable dairy
A quiet revolution is happening behind the dairy aisle. Dairy farms are going high tech to achieve new levels of efficiency, plant-based alternatives are gaining market share, and now precision fermentation is enabling animal-free dairy products that look, taste and feel like the real thing. For food companies looking to meet the world’s growing demand for dairy more sustainably, precision fermentation looks increasingly like a critical piece of the puzzle. Realizing its promise will depend a lot on efficient industrial-scale production.
Separate from the rest
The story of the GEA centrifuge begins in 1893, when Franz Ramesohl and Franz Schmidt began production of their patented mechanical milk separator, paving the way for modern dairy processing. The innovation helped overcome a major challenge of their time: how to supply milk to a growing urban population in late 19th century Germany. And it helped fuel a booming industry. By 1913, they were joined by an additional 67 companies in Germany making centrifuges – many of which were located near their site in Oelde. After leading the way in separation technology for 130 years, GEA is still re-thinking the centrifuge.
Heat pump technology reduces industrial carbon output
From cost savings to emission reduction, GEA leads innovative heat pump technology projects. Explore traditional and district heating initiatives.
GEA engineers drive gains in more sustainable production
In an era where efficiency and greater circularity are non-negotiable, engineers are emerging as the “hidden champions” driving change in business and production. At GEA, a broad and diverse group of engineers and technologists are working hard to confront the pressing challenges of our time – climate change, resource depletion and eliminating waste in all its forms.
Kick-start to carbon capture
Carbon-intensive industries face increased pressure to drastically reduce their CO2 emissions. To help them get started, GEA is introducing a carbon capture portfolio focused on energy efficiency and cost effectiveness.
Latest corporate press releases
Platinum Status: EcoVadis rating places GEA in top one percent of evaluated companies
GEA, a global leader in plant and mechanical engineering, has received the highest accolade, the Platinum Status, in the renowned EcoVadis sustainability assessment. With its score, GEA now ranks among the top one percent worldwide of assessed companies in 2024.
GEA supports "Ein Herz für Kinder" again with EUR 300,000 donation
GEA once again demonstrates its strong commitment to social responsibility by donating EUR 300,000 to the non-profit organization BILD hilft e.V. annual (“Ein Herz für Kinder” (A Heart for Children) charity gala.
Top Employers 2025: GEA reinforces position as one of Europe’s leading employers
GEA again ranks among the best employers in Europe. The company has been awarded the 2025 Top Employer seal in six countries, emerging from the HR audit conducted by the independent Top Employers Institute with an above-average score.
