Luya
- Type
- Food & Ingredient Manufacturer
- Location
- Bern, Switzerland
- Industries
- Alternative proteins, Food ingredients & products, Waste efficiency, Clean label, Food reformulation
- Domains
- Mycelium, Ingredients, Fruit, Plant based primary products, Vegetables, Soy, Chickpeas
- Technologies
- Fermentation, Biotechnology & sustainable inputs
About Luya
Luya Foods AG is a Swiss foodtech company focused on fermentation research and sustainable food production. The company develops plant-based foods from industrial by-products, especially okara from tofu production, using proprietary solid-state fermentation to turn these raw materials into nutritious, versatile products.
Luya serves both retail and foodservice customers. It positions itself as a practical, innovation-led alternative to highly processed plant-based foods: its products are made in Switzerland, built around whole organic legumes, and designed to deliver texture, juiciness, and culinary flexibility without artificial additives.
Core Values
- Sustainability: Luya’s core mission is to reduce food loss by upcycling by-products such as okara into food, creating value from materials that would otherwise be wasted.
- Natural ingredients: The company emphasizes organic ingredients, whole legumes, and clean labels, with no artificial additives in its core products.
- Innovation: Luya combines food science, fermentation research, and product development to create new plant-based formats and extend its technology to new raw material streams.
- Local production: The company highlights Swiss production and local manufacturing as part of its quality and impact model.
- Culinary versatility: Luya designs products to be easy to marinate, season, and adapt across different cuisines and use cases.
Unique Aspects
- Proprietary solid-state fermentation: Luya uses a patented/proprietary fermentation process to transform okara and legumes into products with a distinctive juicy texture and bite.
- Upcycling of okara: The company’s model centers on rescuing okara, a by-product of tofu and soy milk production, and turning it into food rather than waste.
- Swiss production and R&D: Luya manufactures in Bern-Bümpliz and combines production with an integrated R&D team that is working to expand the technology to other by-product streams.
- Licensing model for global scale: Luya says it plans to bring its technology directly to tofu producers worldwide through licensing, enabling local production near where by-products are generated.
- Retail and foodservice traction: The company has launched in Swiss retail and foodservice, including Coop distribution and restaurant use, showing a dual-channel go-to-market approach.