This industry is comprised of a large network of small and medium-sized manufacturers and of providers of professional skills. Bavaria’s foodstuffs enjoy a worldwide reputation for excellence. This excellence stems from the large amount of superior quality raw materials available in the state, from the knowhow passed down generation-by-generation, from the high level of training evinced by personnel in the field, and from the advanced methods of processing and quality control employed—the latter the product of large-sized investments. Germany’s food processing industry had sales of some €147 billion in 2007. Of that, Bavaria’s companies had a share of more than 15%--more than any other state. These companies’ exports come to more than €6.5 billion a year. One cause of these successes is the extensive and high-capacity infrastructure linking the state’s food processors with national and international markets. The companies in Bavaria’s agribusiness and food processing industry (with this including the related professional skills) have annual sales of some €37 billion. This figure makes the industry—numbers one and two are the automotive and industrial engineering ones—the third most important component of Bavaria’s manufacturing. With a total workforce of some 500,000, the companies are also major employers. Add forestry and the resulting agrarian sector accounts, directly and indirectly, for one ninth of the state’s total employment.

The food-processing cluster is comprised of the following sectors:

• dairy industry
• meat processing
• beer, other beverages, plant-based products—including baked goods
• wine
• fruits, vegetables and potatoes

Accounting for 84.5% of sales, Germany is the industry’s major market. Exports to the EU’s new member states in central and eastern Europe have been developing gratifyingly well, rising from €220 million in 2003 to €482 million in 2006—an increase of nearly 120%.

The cluster is comprised of vertically-integrated and history-created units of agricultural operations producing and rural companies processing raw materials. These units are complemented by a proactive network of professional organizations. All these work closely and well with research institutes.

Attractive conditions for the researching of food processing
A large number of institutes, each specialized in its own area, comprises the research community serving the food processing industry in Bavaria. These institutes’ close ties with the state’s farmers and food-processing companies foster the development of new technologies. These institutes include the

• Bavarian State Agency for Agriculture
• Bavarian State Agency for Wine-Growing and Gardening
• Office of Dairy Assessment and Testing, Kempten
• Weihenstephan Center of Sciences
• Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences
• University of Bayreuth
• University of Erlangen – Nuremberg
• Max-Rubner Institute, Kulmbach
• Fraunhofer Institute for Processing and Packaging Technologies, Freising
• Doemens e.V., Gräfelfing (brewing and packaging processes)
• German Foundation for Food Processing-Use Chemicals, Garching

A large pool of highly-qualified personnel
Germany’s dual system of vocational education combines and intermeshes in-classroom and in-company learning. Along with the interdisciplinary approach taken at Bavaria’s institutions of higher education, this system is the reason why Bavaria has such a large pool of personnel holding qualifications in all fields of food processing.

Provided by the market support program managed by Bavaria’s State Agency for Agriculture’s department of support programs and trade law, grants are available for those companies processing raw materials ensuing directly from agricultural operations and which are making investments. Downstream processing companies can obtain information on such support from the Website of Bavaria’s ministry of economic affairs, infrastructure, transport and technology.

…is available from „Key Technologies in Bavaria“. This databank contains entries on Bavaria’s food processing companies.