Realising that a most valuable portion of the grain was fed to animals, he generated numerous ideas with two of his master bakers’ René Burgermeister and Bruno Zehnder on how to make best use of these by-products. With the major Swiss yeast company “Swiss Yeast” in their backyard the trio started to perform series of trials based on the traditional Swiss sponge and dough baking system called “Hebel” or mother dough. In the year 2002, the concentrated starter dough PANATURA® was invented by these three inventors René Burgermeister, Bruno Zehnder and Meiert J. Grootes in Matzingen, Switzerland. Their newly invented starter dough based on traditional recipes and modern technology.

The product‘s name is a portmanteau combining the French word pain or pan (le pain = bread) and the Latin term natura. The image shows Bread of Basel, which is typical Swiss bread traditionally made with a mother dough or starter and symbolizing its country of origin, Switzerland. The three inventors applied for various patents for the PANATURA® formulation and the manufacturing process in Bern in 2002. The same year the PANATURA® brand was trademarked at the Federal Institute for Intellectual Property in Bern. Generating ideas is something fundamentally different from realizing ideas. Therefore the main question to Meiert J. Grootes at that time was “What should be done, and what is required to put this invention successfully on the market?”

The PANATURA® concept was then launched at the World Day of Bread on October 16, 2002. The first license agreement was signed December 2002 with Swiss Yeast Factory in Stettfurt. The industrial production of PANATURA® starter dough already started in January 2003. After the launch at the Swiss Baker‘s exhibition February 2003 PANATURA® has successfully conquered Europe e.g. Germany, Holland, UK, Italy, Spain and Austria

Over the years PANATURA® technology was further improved in collaboration with a major Swiss technology company. In 2007 first samples of PANATURA® in granulated form were available.

The major milestone in the development of PANATURA® is the inauguration of a Flagship biotech factory in Port Klang, Malaysia for the industrial production in August 2008. With this new site, not only the existing production capacity of PANATURA® was multiplied - it also serves as a walk-in model of latest food biotechnology for licensees and investors from around the world. Within 24 months after signing the license agreement with the Interflour Group in 2006, Panadoro Group together with Swiss technology partners managed to develop and realize a turnkey concept for the industrial production of PANATURA® in granulated form. This marks the most challenging time in the history of the product. As Meiert says “Those who want to build a high house must linger longer on the foundation”. That is why the optimisation phase took another 15 months.

One of the key people to make this happen was Prof. Dr. Nasir Azudin, Group Technical Director of Interflour, with his R&D and Commercialization Center in Kuala Lumpur.

Continuous development through research and development will include the selection of suitable microorganisms and raw ingredients through mill streaming and natural extracts. In-depth understanding on the chemistry, chemical and biochemical interactions, enzymatic activities, processing conditions and protocols, product rheology and products performances in the target applications will be generated through strong R&D and technical teams. The new state-of-the-art biotech factory is able to produce a wide range of products including natural preservatives, gluten-free or low GI products.

MGM INGREDIENTSAG, the biotech subsidiary of Swiss PANADORO GROUP, succeeds with breakthrough PANATURA® due to exponentially increased demand in Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas.