From production space to future space: food processing will be at a turning point in 2025. Hygiene pressure, automation, sustainability and digital control are no longer niche topics, but specific requirements for the entire building infrastructure. Anyone planning or converting today has to deliver more than just square meters: it’s about efficiency, adaptability and food safety – and about construction partners who think holistically. The Wirth Group provides these answers. Together with its subsidiaries FoodTec Buildings and Schwan Projekt GmbH, it supports companies in the food industry from the initial idea through to implementation – with expertise, specialization and a focus on the future.
Automation megatrend: buildings need to think ahead
Automation is the key driver of food production in 2025. From sensor-controlled conveyor systems to robot-assisted packaging – processes are becoming more digital, more precise and more networked. For construction, this means that rooms must be planned with automation in mind. This includes future-proof cable routes, media-carrying ceilings and hygienically clean interfaces between man and machine.
The Wirth Group takes an integrated approach here: while Schwan Projekt GmbH creates the structural and planning requirements for digital process flows, FoodTec Buildings provides hygienic wall and floor solutions that remain durable, easy to clean and safe even with high levels of automation. Buildings that can already grow digitally today – that is automation as a construction principle.
Hygiene standards at the next level
Food safety has always been a duty – in 2025 it will become a strategic resource. New legal regulations, international export requirements and rising consumer expectations are increasing the pressure. In terms of construction, this means that zone logic, hygienic materials, seamless design and controllable cleaning must be considered from the outset.
The Wirth Group relies on state-of-the-art GRP cladding, smooth wall transitions, colour-coded zones and insulated doors with minimized bacterial surfaces. This creates environments that reduce cleaning costs and not only enable certifications such as IFS or BRC, but also secure them in the long term. Hygiene is not a product – it is planning logic.
Sustainability: more than just saving energy
Sustainability has long been more than just photovoltaics on the roof. For food production in 2025, it means resource-conserving construction methods, durable materials, recyclable systems and energy-optimized zone control. Here, too, the Wirth Group relies on a coordinated system: Schwan Projekt GmbH develops material concepts with a view to CO2 balance and energy efficiency, while FoodTec relies on materials that minimize energy losses and at the same time guarantee maximum hygiene for cold storage cells, facades and insulation.
The focus is on insulating panels with optimized insulation efficiency, sensor-controlled refrigeration technology and intelligent lighting systems – combined in a building concept that is ecologically sound, economically viable and hygienically robust.
Modular design in response to volatile markets
A company that processes meat today could invest in plant-based products tomorrow. Or vice versa. The markets are dynamic – and the building has to keep pace. Modular construction is therefore not a trend in 2025, but a prerequisite. It not only allows flexible use, but also economic scalability and faster amortization of building investments.
Schwan Projekt GmbH designs its plans in such a way that zones can be easily restructured, cooling areas expanded or production lines relocated – without the need for core conversions. Modular concepts not only apply to walls and room sizes: Infrastructure such as electricity, water and data lines are also laid in such a way that subsequent conversions can be carried out efficiently.
FoodTec Buildings supplies the right systems for this: from movable partition walls and mobile hygiene airlocks to customizable cold rooms. These elements can not only be used flexibly, but are also hygienically certified and can be integrated immediately. This keeps the building flexible – and the business adaptable, regardless of product cycles, seasonal peaks or market trends.
Holistic planning: three specialists, one goal
What makes the Wirth Group special is that it combines strategy, architecture and structural implementation under one roof – with clear roles but a common mission: to build production facilities that meet the requirements of 2025 and beyond. While FoodTec is responsible for the hygienic and technical implementation and Schwan Projekt provides the architectural master plan, the Group bundles its expertise into an integrated overall process.
The added value: fewer interfaces, more planning security, coordinated construction processes – and an operation that not only works, but also sets standards in the industry.
Focus on international requirements
Food production has long been globally networked – and so have hygiene and building regulations. For export-oriented companies, it is crucial that construction measures not only meet national but also international standards. Whether EU specifications, GFSI certifications or regional requirements in the Middle East or North America – FoodTec knows the relevant standards.
Our hygienic extension systems are designed to meet IFS and BRC standards as well as the specific customer requirements of large retail chains. Our solutions are particularly in demand for customers who require halal-certified production, double zone management or specific HACCP requirements. With experience from international projects, we actively advise on approval procedures, auditability and intercultural planning aspects.
Why the Wirth Group is your ideal partner
Innovative hygiene concepts for cheese dairies require a holistic approach – from structural measures such as cold room construction and façade construction to the use of modern surface materials (e.g. GRP) and cleaning or sensor systems. The Wirth Group is the right partner to combine these requirements and make cheese dairies fit for the future. Because only those who invest in comprehensive solutions can ensure the highest product quality and consumer protection in the long term.
