For plates, fuel,
and animals

After the harvest, traders and processors deliver rapeseed directly to oil mills and refineries, where the oil is extracted and refined for all kinds of different purposes.

Rapeseed oil is Germany's most popular cooking oil and is available in both cold-pressed and refined forms. Cold-pressed rapeseed oil is known for its nutty flavor, while refined rapeseed oil is ideal for high-temperature cooking, and has a broad range of other uses.

A significant amount of rapeseed oil produced in Europe is also used in the production of biofuels. Even the by-products from oil extraction are utilized: rapeseed meal and the so-called “cake” serve as valuable, protein-rich feed for animals.

• Cooking oil
• Margarine and other food products
• Biodiesel and other biofuels
• Lubricants and industrial oils
• Dishwashing and washing detergents
• Rapeseed honey (produced by bees from the nectar collected on flowering rapeseed oil fields)
• Rapeseed meal and cake as animal feed

In Europe, mainly winter rye is grown. Because its roots are deeply branched, it produces reliable yields even in dry periods. Rye can tolerate temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius, making it the frost-hardiest cereal. It is harvested by combine harvesters in July and August.

Rye is not only a source of food and feed, but also an important renewable raw material in the production of bioethanol and biogas. The resulting bioethanol is used, among other things, in E10 fuel.

• Rye bread
• Mixed-type bread (wheat and rye)
• Animal feed
• Biofuel
• Spirits (vodka and whiskey)

KWS offers winter and spring barley. It is classified according to its ear type: two-rowed barley has one strong and full grain per attachment point, while multi-rowed barley grows three grains per attachment point – these vary in size, but result in a considerably higher grain count per ear.

Two-rowed spring barley is often used as malting barley for making beer.

• Beer
• Pearl barley
• Meal
• Groats
• Malt and malt coffee
• Animal feed

Sorghum is one of the oldest cultivated plants worldwide. Today, it is grown predominantly in dry and hot regions. Thanks to its deep root system and efficient use of available water resources, sorghum yields steady harvests even under harsh conditions.

Sorghum can be classified as grain sorghum and silage sorghum. Grain sorghum is harvested for its grain, which is used as animal feed, food, or a raw material for industrial applications. On the other hand, silage sorghum is harvested as a whole plant, which in turn is used for cattle feed and biogas production.

Sorghum is gaining in importance across Europe because it can thrive with less water than many other summer crops, making it an interesting addition to modern crop rotations.

• Feed for poultry, pigs, and cattle
• Silage for ruminants and biogas plants
• Sorghum flour for baked goods
• Breakfast flakes and puffed products
• Spirits and alcoholic beverages
• Bioethanol

KWS offers yellow and green fodder or grain peas. What KWS does not offer are green vegetable peas, sold in cans or frozen in supermarkets. Nevertheless, KWS peas are in many modern food products: grain peas are increasingly popular as a plant-based protein. Processors are extracting the high-value protein as raw material for meat substitutes, for example. It serves as an alternative to imported soy protein. Vegan, climate-friendly, gluten-free nutrition based on pea proteins offers great market potential. Grain peas are also used as protein component in feed-mixtures for livestock and pets.

Where Protein Begins

KWS combines expertise in plant breeding, and food analytics to develop yellow pea protein solutions for food producers. Our portfolio includes pea protein isolates, concentrates, and flours, tailored to specific application requirements. Through close partnerships with food producers, we co-develop ingredients that deliver the functionality, taste, and performance needed for successful plant-based foods.

Our specially bred yellow pea varieties deliver natural functionality in key applications:

• Meat alternatives
• Dairy alternatives
• Bakery and snack products

KWS has developed a new organic pea in collaboration with Berlin-based food-tech company vly for use in plant-based milk alternatives. Launched in 2023, the partnership aims to develop a pea variety with a neutral, mild flavor, one of the key challenges of plant-based proteins. Through targeted breeding, we focused on improving the sensory properties of pea protein, particularly taste and texture. The resulting pea protein is now used in the vly Bio High Protein drink.

There are two forms of oats: Forage oats for horse feeding and quality oats, also called “hulled oats” for human consumption. Forage oats are cleaned after harvest, sometimes crushed for better digestibility, and then fed to horses. The food and milling industries place high demands on oat quality. This regards, for example, the “hullability” (easy removal of the husks), grain size, moisture, and purity. Oat grains for human consumption – after sieving and cleaning – are separated from their husks in a hulling machine and kilned (lightly roasted), steamed, and dried.

• Porridge, oatmeal
• Superfood bar
• Oat drink
• Ingredient in ready-made food (soups, vegetable and meat dishes)
• Cosmetic products
• Horse feed

In the field, mustard looks similar to rapeseed, with yellow flowers that resemble those of a dandelion. However, mustard comes in three different types: white, brown, and black mustard. This is due to the color of the seed. Interesting fact: the darker the color the spicier the mustard.

Two parts of the mustard plant are used mainly in two different ways: the seeds for human consumption and oil products and the vegetative plant itself for green manure – either solo or in cover crop mixtures like KWS Fit4NEXT. Of course, these are two completely different types of cultivation. When grown for seed, mustard is cultivated from spring to fall, while as a cover crop it is grown from summer to spring.

Mustard breeding and seed distribution is a real niche. The market is small. Mustard seeds (as opposed to biomass) are mainly processed into mustard oil for the chemical cosmetics industry.

• Table mustard
• Mustard oil
• Whole-grain mustard

Table mustard can be produced on a large industrial scale or in the traditional artisanal way. More than ninety percent of our table mustard is made by mixing water with mustard flour, a byproduct of mustard oil extraction. While this mustard is cheap, it lacks the key beneficial properties.

Small manufactories, however, use the whole grain and therefore the mustard oil. Mustard oils have antibacterial and antioxidant properties and promote digestion. Since 2020, KWS has been producing this kind of high-quality table mustard purely organically using traditional methods in the Einbeck mustard mill. The KWS variety MARTIGENA, the only variety low in bitter substances, is turned into KWS SENFLIEBE, a white mustard with small amounts of black, enriched with syrup from KWS sugar beet, and into KWS SENFFLIRT, a mustard with a touch of tomato flavor.

KWS Teamshop – SENFLIEBE

KWS Teamshop – SENFFLIRT