Tetra Pak deepens push into New Food with acquisition of Bioreactors.net

Tetra Pak Processing Equipment SIA has moved to strengthen its position in the fast-developing New Food sector with the acquisition of Bioreactors.net, a Latvia-based specialist in fermentation systems. The deal, announced on 2 December, brought a company with nearly 30 years of engineering expertise into the Tetra Pak fold and marked a further step in its effort to build out a full suite of technologies for precision and biomass fermentation.

Founded in 1996, Bioreactors.net has long supplied bioreactor systems to customers ranging from small laboratory teams to large commercial producers. Its equipment is used to manufacture a variety of proteins and other fermentation-derived products, placing the firm among a small group of European manufacturers serving both early-stage innovators and food companies scaling up production. Around 15 employees joined Tetra Pak as part of the transaction.

Tetra Pak said the acquisition would broaden its processing capabilities within New Food and give customers access to more advanced systems built for the demands of modern fermentation. The move followed several years of investment by the company as interest in fermentation-derived ingredients accelerated.

Rafael Barros, Director of the New Food Business Stream at Tetra Pak, said the addition of Bioreactors.net strengthened the company’s upstream and downstream processing portfolio. “The addition of Bioreactors.net complements our existing upstream and downstream processing portfolio with fermentation capabilities. Together, we will deploy their full portfolio of bioreactor solutions under the Tetra Pak brand – offering advanced food production systems,” he said. Barros added that the acquisition would support efforts to develop next-generation bioreactors aimed at helping both start-ups and established producers scale sustainably.

For Bioreactors.net, joining Tetra Pak marked the most significant structural change in its history. Janis Misins-Jubels, Head of Manufacturing at the Latvian firm, said the deal aligned the company with a global player while expanding its reach. “Joining Tetra Pak is a major milestone for us,” he said. “Our decades of expertise in bioreactors, paired with Tetra Pak’s existing portfolio, global reach and resources, will accelerate the delivery of world-class fermentation solutions to customers around the globe.”

The acquisition came at a time when biotechnology continued to be seen as a central tool for addressing the long-term challenge of feeding a growing population. Precision and biomass fermentation are increasingly integral to producing food ingredients with lower resource use, forming part of efforts to design more circular and resilient food systems.

Tetra Pak has been steadily building a presence in the New Food category. Earlier this year the company opened the Tetra Pak New Food Technology Development Centre in Karlshamn, Sweden, designed to support product development and process optimization for emerging food technologies. It also partnered with Lund University in 2023 to launch Biotech Heights in Lund, Sweden, an innovation hub dedicated to advancing biotechnology and bioprocess engineering.

With Bioreactors.net now integrated into the business, Tetra Pak said it aimed to offer a more complete range of solutions to companies working in fermentation-derived foods and ingredients. The move underscored its belief that demand for alternative and specialty proteins will continue to grow, requiring reliable, scalable infrastructure.