Sobatech Services B.V.

Sobatech Services B.V. is a Dutch manufacturer of continuous dosing and mixing systems for the food and non-food industries, founded in 2005 by Gilian Lekner in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The company positions itself as an international leader in continuous mixing technology and serves bakery, plant-based protein, confectionery, pasta, pet food, pharmaceutical, and chemical sectors worldwide. Sobatech is a co-owner of Dutch Structuring Technologies B.V. (DST Food), a joint venture with BOX N.V. (Blue Ocean Xlerator) focused on continuous high-shear protein structuring technology for plant-based meat alternatives.

Company profile

History

Gilian Lekner founded Sobatech in 2005 with the explicit mission of increasing productivity in the food industry through continuous mixing systems. Lekner’s engineering background extends to 1984, when he established Lekner B.V. in Eijsden, specialising in industrial automation, fail-safe systems, and redundant control solutions. Sobatech’s founding built on this automation expertise, applying it specifically to continuous food processing.

The company won the IBA Award in 2006 — the year after founding — and the Dutch Innovation Award in 2008, establishing early recognition for the technology’s novelty in the bakery sector.

In 2021 Sobatech partnered with Naegele Bakery Systems to distribute its continuous mixing equipment in the North American market.

Core technology: continuous mixing

Sobatech’s central value proposition is the replacement of batch mixing — the dominant approach in industrial food production — with fully continuous processing. Continuous mixing eliminates the inherent variability of batch-to-batch production and enables real-time control of dough and product quality throughout the production run.

The company identifies three primary benefits of continuous processing:

1. Constant consistency — identical product quality regardless of production time or operator variation
2. Process control — real-time adjustment of mixing parameters to maintain target quality
3. Cost savings — reduced labour, reduced waste, and higher throughput per unit of floor space

Two-phase mixing process

Sobatech’s continuous mixers use a two-stage process:

• Phase 1 — Homogenisation: All ingredients are evenly and accurately distributed across the entire mass, establishing a uniform composition before mechanical work begins
• Phase 2 — Mixing: Contra-rotating mixing tools create a controlled flow of mass through the mixer, developing the dough structure. The rotational speed (RPM) of the mixing tools is controllable to steer product development; kneading intensity is quantified and controlled via energy input in Wh/kg, enabling consistent reproduction of any recipe

Production rates reach up to 12,000 kg of dough per hour with minimal operator intervention.

Products

Continuous Mixer

The core product. Capacity range 50–10,000 kg/hour. Suitable for yeast-leavened doughs (pan bread, baguettes, buns, brioche, pizza bases) and chemically or unleavened doughs (cookies, crackers, tortillas, wraps). The contra-rotating mixing tool design enables precise, reproducible dough development across all recipe types.

Weighing Belt

Gravimetric weighing system for continuous material flow control. Capacity range 20–4,000 kg/hour. Ensures accurate mass measurement in a continuous stream without interrupting production flow.

Continuous Dosing Liquids

Liquid ingredient metering using Magflow and Coriolis flowmeters for high-precision, continuous measurement of water, oil, and other liquid components.

Continuous Dosing Powders

Gravimetric hoppers with advanced control software for continuous powder ingredient dosing. Volume range 12–2,000 litres.

Continuous Bulk Fermenter

Enclosed fermentation unit with precise environmental control over temperature and humidity. Resting time is configurable from 15 minutes to 24 hours, covering a wide range of fermentation protocols for bread, confectionery, and grain-based products.

Continuous TVP Hydrator

Specifically developed for plant-based meat production. Hydrates texturised vegetable proteins (TVP) evenly and continuously without compromising the fibrous structure of the protein. Designed to feed continuously into downstream structuring processes such as Sheartex.

Rework System

Reintroduces dough trim and offcuts from sheeting lines back into the mixing process, maintaining recipe consistency and eliminating waste from the production line.

Cleaning-in-Place (CIP)

Automated cleaning system capable of thorough sanitation of the dough mixer in 15 minutes, minimising downtime between product changeovers.

Demonstration centre

Sobatech operates a demonstration and testing facility in the Netherlands with a fully automated continuous dosing and mixing system available for customer product trials and process development.

DST Food and Sheartex

Sobatech is a co-owner of Dutch Structuring Technologies B.V. (DST Food), headquartered at the same Maastricht address (Karveelweg 9). DST was established through a collaboration between Sobatech and BOX N.V. (Blue Ocean Xlerator), the Wageningen-based food technology incubator co-founded by Bert Tournois. DST’s CEO is Julian Lekner.

Together, Sobatech and DST co-developed Sheartex™ — a patented continuous protein structuring technology that converts plant-based or hybrid protein formulations into fibrous, meat-like structures using high shear forces combined with specialised cooling dies, without conventional extrusion.

Sheartex specifications

The Sheartex process tailors final texture through control of continuous shearing and mixing parameters. The combination of Sobatech’s continuous mixing expertise and DST’s shear-die cooling technology makes it possible to achieve high-throughput production of whole-cut plant-based meat alternatives — a format difficult to produce at scale by standard high-moisture extrusion.

OPZuid subsidy

In 2025, the consortium of Dutch Structuring Technologies, Sobatech Services, and Fuji Europe Africa B.V. received an EU subsidy of nearly €400,000 under the OPZuid 21–27 programme for the project “Sheartex to the market”, supporting the scale-up and commercialisation of the Sheartex technology. The project runs to 2027.

Markets and sectors

Awards