Elian Strengthens Agrifood Growth With COFIDES Joining Shareholding Structure Through €40 Million Investment
Agribusiness company Elian is strengthening its position in Europe’s plant-based protein sector following the entry of the Spanish Development Financing Company (COFIDES) into its shareholding structure. Through a €40 million investment, COFIDES has acquired a minority stake in Elian, providing significant institutional backing for the company’s plans to expand plant-based protein production from its industrial facility at the Port of Barcelona.
The investment marks an important step in Elian’s strategy to establish Barcelona as a major European hub for plant-based protein production. It also reflects growing institutional attention to the importance of strengthening regional food supply chains, increasing domestic processing capacity and reducing dependence on imported agricultural ingredients.
The public-private partnership was presented at Elian’s facility in the Port of Barcelona. The event was attended by Miquel Sàmper, Minister of Business and Labour of the Generalitat de Catalunya; Miguel Tiana, Director-General of COFIDES; and Andrés Martín, CEO and founder of Elian.
COFIDES Investment Supports Strategic Agrifood Expansion
COFIDES’s investment has been structured through the Co-investment Fund, known as FOCO. The fund was established under the addendum to Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and is managed by COFIDES.
FOCO is designed to support strategic projects through co-investment alongside foreign investors. Its focus includes sectors considered important to Spain’s economic transformation, competitiveness and long-term resilience, with innovative agrifood activities forming part of its investment priorities.
For Elian, the €40 million investment will provide additional financial support as the company develops its large-scale industrial project in Barcelona. The transaction involves Viserion International, Elian’s parent group and FOCO’s co-investor.
Founded in Barcelona in January 2021 as a local business initiative, Elian has expanded rapidly since its creation. The company is now investing more than €300 million in its plant-based protein production facility at the Port of Barcelona.
The company strengthened its industrial footprint in 2024 through the acquisition of a benchmark soybean crushing facility. In late 2025, Elian announced plans to expand the Barcelona project, with completion of the expansion scheduled for early 2028.
Expansion to Increase Protein Processing Capacity
The planned expansion is expected to significantly broaden Elian’s product portfolio and enable the company to serve additional customers and end-use markets.
Once completed, the expanded facility will cover approximately 90,000 square metres and add more than 100,000 tonnes of annual production capacity for protein derivatives used in human food and animal feed. This new capacity will be added to the facility’s existing annual capacity of approximately 770,000 tonnes.
The expansion is intended to strengthen Elian’s ability to process oilseeds and produce higher-value ingredients for the food and feed industries. It also provides the company with additional industrial infrastructure from which to develop its European supply model.
The project has received support from ACCIÓ, the business competitiveness agency of the Catalan Department of Business and Labour. ACCIÓ has awarded Elian €2.25 million through a funding program supporting high-impact business projects.
The combination of private investment, institutional financing and regional government support highlights the scale of the industrial development taking place at the Barcelona site.
Building a More Local Protein Supply Chain
Elian generated approximately €400 million in revenue in 2025 and currently employs around 90 people. The company says its Barcelona facility is one of only three integrated infrastructures of its type in Europe.
This industrial capability is particularly relevant as European food and feed manufacturers seek to improve the resilience of their supply chains. A significant share of the ingredients used by the European agrifood industry is sourced from outside the region, exposing manufacturers to transportation disruptions, commodity-market volatility, geopolitical developments and changing international trade conditions.
Elian is positioning its Barcelona operation as part of a more localized model in which agricultural raw materials can be processed closer to European food and feed markets.
The company also describes its facility as the world’s first agro-industrial plant to use an end-to-end hydrocarbon-free process, from the soybean bean through to the final products. According to Elian, its clean-label oilseed processing technology is designed to achieve high purity standards while reducing the environmental impact associated with processing.
Andrés Martín, CEO and founder of Elian, said COFIDES’s participation represents important institutional support for the company’s strategy.
He said the partnership demonstrates that the Barcelona facility has developed beyond a conventional industrial project and is increasingly viewed as strategically important infrastructure. According to Martín, the investment will allow Elian to accelerate its plans to strengthen Europe’s plant-based protein supply and provide food manufacturers with a local, traceable and more sustainable source of ingredients.
European Protein Strategy Adds Momentum
Elian’s expansion comes as European policymakers place greater emphasis on protein security and strategic autonomy.
The timing of the transaction coincides with the European Commission’s publication on July 7 of an Action Plan focused on resilience, strategic autonomy and sustainability in the European Union’s protein supply.
The plan highlights Europe’s dependence on imported protein ingredients, particularly soy. According to the figures cited in the plan, approximately 94% of the soy used for animal feed in the European Union is currently imported.
The European Union has set an objective of increasing the proportion of domestically produced oilseed and protein-crop protein used for animal feed from 25.8% in 2025 to 35% by 2035.
Achieving that objective will require development across multiple stages of the agricultural and food supply chain. Expanding domestic cultivation is one component, but additional processing infrastructure will also be necessary to convert locally grown crops into useful food and feed ingredients.
Processing facilities such as Elian’s can therefore play a role in connecting European agricultural production with food and feed manufacturers. Greater domestic processing capacity can also improve traceability by creating closer links between growers, processors and downstream customers.
Promoting Soybean Production in Spain
Elian is also working to expand the domestic agricultural supply that supports its processing operations.
The company is promoting non-GMO soybean cultivation in Catalonia and Aragon and has set a target of reaching approximately 3,000 hectares of cultivation during 2026.
Developing local soybean production could provide additional sourcing options for European processors while creating closer connections between agricultural producers and industrial demand. It also aligns with broader efforts to increase the role of European-grown protein crops within regional food and feed systems.
At the same time, Elian is pursuing opportunities for inorganic growth through potential acquisitions and other transactions. These opportunities are intended to complement the company’s existing operations and accelerate the expansion of its sustainable production model.
Government Support for Barcelona Project
Catalan authorities have also emphasized the industrial and employment potential of Elian’s investment.
Miquel Sàmper, Minister of Business and Labour of the Generalitat de Catalunya, highlighted the government’s support for the project since its early stages. Through ACCIÓ, the Catalan government has supported Elian’s development from the beginning, including the €2.25 million grant for the high-impact business project.
Sàmper described the investment as meeting several strategic priorities for Catalonia, including reindustrialization, employment creation and development of industries linked to future economic opportunities. He also pointed to the company’s sustainability focus as an important element of the project.
Miguel Tiana, Director-General of COFIDES, said Elian’s industrial project has the potential to contribute to stronger European supply chains in plant-based protein.
He emphasized the combination of sustainability, technology and long-term planning within the company’s approach, noting that FOCO’s participation is intended to support business growth while contributing to the competitiveness of the Spanish economy.
Strengthening Europe’s Agrifood Resilience
The €40 million COFIDES investment comes at a time when food manufacturers, agricultural businesses and policymakers are examining how European supply chains can become more resilient.
For Elian, the Barcelona expansion brings together several elements of that strategy: large-scale processing capacity, local agricultural sourcing, plant-based protein production, technological innovation and reduced reliance on distant suppliers.
The company’s planned expansion will increase its ability to supply protein derivatives to both the human food and animal feed industries. Meanwhile, its work with soybean producers in Catalonia and Aragon could help strengthen connections between European agriculture and domestic processing.
The €300 million-plus industrial investment at the Port of Barcelona, combined with the new €40 million COFIDES participation, positions the project for its next phase of development. With the expansion scheduled for completion in early 2028, Elian is building toward a larger role in Europe’s evolving protein supply chain.
As demand for sustainable and traceable ingredients continues to develop, the company’s strategy is centered on increasing regional processing capacity and creating a more integrated supply network. The Barcelona facility is consequently becoming an important part of Elian’s broader ambition to expand plant-based protein production in Europe while supporting greater resilience and strategic autonomy across the agrifood sector.
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