On July 1, the two Research Institutes for Raw Materials and Beer and Beverage Analytics were merged at VLB to form the Research Institute for Raw Materials and Beverage Analysis. The new department is headed by Dr. Nils Rettberg.

With around 50 employees, the new Research Institute for Raw Materials and Beverage Analysis (FIRGA) now represents the largest organizational unit within VLB. As part of the strategic optimization process, the closer linking of VLB's chemical-technical laboratories had been under discussion for some time. The current measure was triggered by the decision of the previous head of the Research Institute for Raw Materials, Henrike Vorwerk, to leave VLB at the end of July this year.

"This strategic measure offers us the opportunity to optimize many internal processes and to realize cross-institute projects more easily," VLB Managing Director Dr. Josef Fontaine commented on the decision. "We very much regret Henrike Vorwerk's departure and wish her all the best for her professional future." His managing director colleague Gerhard Andreas Schreiber adds, "For our customers, we will be able to offer VLB services even more 'from a single source' in the future and, together with Dr. Rettberg, we also want to further strengthen research in the field of raw materials."

Nils Rettberg is looking forward to the new challenge: "Behind the scenes, the two previous research institutes also had numerous points of contact in the past. Our task now is to reorganize the teams in some places and optimize various internal processes. Overall, we want to better cushion seasonal peaks in the future by making our resources more flexible and fill time gaps with new projects."

Nils Rettberg (39) is a trained brewer and maltster with a diploma degree and doctorate. He began his professional career at VLB in 2011 as a research assistant. Since 2015, he has been working at VLB as head of a research institute.

Dr.-Ing. Nils Rettberg  heads the new VLB research Institute for Raw Materials and Beverage Analysis