Bühler Networking Days 2025 brought together more than 1 200 business leaders from the food, feed, and sustainable mobility and materials sectors at the company’s headquarters in Uzwil, Switzerland, in June. Under the theme ‘Multiplying impact together’, the event focused on the challenge of building businesses concerned with feeding and moving 10 billion people sustainably by 2050. Marco Sutter, Managing Director of Bühler Southern Africa, says four local customers took part in the event.
Chris Roets (centre), Managing Director of Carolina Rollermeule, returned to Uzwil for the Networking Days this year with his son, Wihan Roets (left), pictured here with Alexis Noel.
“At the Networking Days we highlighted technologies, partnerships, and case studies that are already making a difference,” said Sutter. “The theme is a reflection of our belief that collaboration is the key to progress.”
Established in 1972 in South Africa, Bühler works closely with its customers, industry players, and government to co-create solutions that drive business success and contribute to food security, skills development, and sustainability. “We aim to scale positive impact through joint action,” Sutter added.
Chris Roets, Managing Director of Carolina Rollermeule, said: “It was a privilege to return to Uzwil for the Networking Days, this time with my son, making it an even more memorable experience. The event was again an opportunity to connect, learn, and be inspired. Winning the Miller of the Day award was a wonderful and unexpected honour. A heartfelt thank you to Bühler and the team for hosting such a professional and engaging event.”
In the spirit of Multiplying impact together, Roets added that Carolina Rollermeule is transitioning its factory to solar energy, and all its Bühler equipment will run on renewable power. “This marks a major milestone in our journey towards sustainability and responsible production,” he said.
“We are also multiplying impact through quality and food safety. A key takeaway from the Networking Days was seeing the Bühler Sortex solutions and engaging directly with the team behind this development. That experience was instrumental in our decision to invest in the system. With its advanced optical sorting capabilities, the Sortex SPARK Pro+ enables us to detect and remove even the smallest impurities, significantly raising the standard of our grain products.”
The SPARK Pro sorter is Bühler’s most user-friendly and affordable optical sorter to date. With its zero-spillage design that prevents material waste and 75 years of engineering experience behind it, the sorter delivers food safety and quality at unmatched value. “Together with Bühler, we are modernising our operations and helping to build a safer, more sustainable food system for the future,” said Roets.
Collaboration as a catalyst
Speaking at the event, Bühler Group CEO Stefan Scheiber emphasised the power of collaboration and cooperation to multiply the impact of innovation. “Every breakthrough, partnership, and bold decision creates ripples, spreading knowledge, inspiring action, and driving progress. By working together, businesses and industries add incrementally to progress and accelerate it by compounding their influence and scaling solutions far beyond what any single effort could achieve.”
A key message of the event was that sustainability is a sound business strategy that drives profitable growth and long-term resilience, and it is the outcome of strong leadership. Professor Johan Rockström, a leading expert on global sustainability, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and the architect of the Planetary Boundaries framework, highlighted the urgent need for industry to operate within earth’s safe limits.
He encouraged leaders to speak openly about the business value of sustainability. “We must think of sustainability as central to competitiveness, security, stability, and health,” Rockström said. “When a decision improves your performance, attracts talent, opens new markets, or enhances resilience, communicate that clearly: show that sustainability is not a burden – it’s a competitive advantage.”
Speakers throughout the event echoed the magnitude and urgency of the challenge, calling for accelerated innovation – in digital tools, process technologies, and business models – to deliver more value with fewer resources. Representatives from industry, business, and academia exchanged practical solutions to ongoing and emerging sustainability challenges.
Bühler is a trusted technology partner across the food value chain, from grain handling and milling to rice processing, chocolate production, and more. With its expertise in this sector, it assists customers to unlock efficiency, quality, and sustainability, and its service teams ensure process reliability and uptime. “We provide machines to co-create sustainable food solutions,” said Sutter.
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