GRAEF’s ProWorld on growth track: GRAEF presents new fully automatic slicer generation VA900 at IFFA in Frankfurt

(Arnsberg, May 2025) At this year’s IFFA, the leading trade fair for the meat and protein industry, the family-owned company GRAEF presented itself to a large international audience as a sought-after specialist for professional slicing solutions. From May 3 to 8, more than 60,000 visitors from 144 countries attended the event in Frankfurt am Main, especially representatives from the protein processing industry, but also from food retail, packaging, the butchery trade and the spice industry. In Hall 12, GRAEF showcased numerous highlights, including a new generation of fully automatic VA900 slicers, and positioned itself both as a problem solver for professional slicing needs and as a forward-looking partner for process automation in food processing.

Strong international response and high visitor turnout

GRAEF has built a reputation as a reliable specialist for slicing solutions “made in Germany” – not only in the consumer market, but also in the commercial sector worldwide. All days of IFFA saw high foot traffic, and GRAEF recorded several hundred new contacts, 60 percent of them from abroad. Products from GRAEF’s ProWorld – ProfiWelt in German – stand out for their quality, functionality and ease of use. “Our solutions are a key component in the processing chains of a wide range of food producers and in demand worldwide for process optimization. In particular, we want our fully automatic machines to support operations facing staffing challenges,” explains Christoph Bergmann, authorized officer and Head of Commercial Product Management at GRAEF. The company also offers a variety of manual and semi-automatic slicers that can complement existing processes, as well as specialized solutions for particular slicing needs.

The key to process automation: VA900

With the presentation of its latest generation of fully automatic VA900 slicers at IFFA, GRAEF takes an important step forward in the expansion of its ProWorld offering. “Now in its third generation of production, the VA900 is a true milestone for us and, thanks to its forward-looking electronics, the key to unlocking new markets,” says Hermann Graef, Managing Director of Gebr. GRAEF GmbH & Co. KG. Offering top-level productivity, efficiency and hygiene, the VA900 is a reliable assistant for use behind the counter and in the commercial kitchen. It delivers outstanding solutions for a wide range of applications in food retail, large- and small-scale gastronomy, institutional catering, the butchery trade, and even in sea and river cruise operations. By combining automatic depositing with automatic product feed and carriage run, GRAEF’s fully automatic slicers operate independently of the user. The new programming of the functional unit is modular in design, allowing for easy customer-specific adaptations. For touchscreen operation, GRAEF has developed an intuitive menu system that can be controlled using symbols, making it language-independent.

Fully automatic slicers are a key starting point for any process automation. The VA900 stands out especially for its ability to be integrated into complete process chains – all the way through to packaging. With its open system, GRAEF offers both mechanical and software interfaces for machines from other manufacturers. Together with its partners DIGI (Japan) and Zermat (Spain), the company presented fully integrated solutions at IFFA for a wide range of applications – from decorative slicing to retail-ready food packaging.