DuPont Nutrition & Health will spend US$100 million to expand its US facility capacity by 70%.
The investment is the second phase of a broader probiotics expansion project due to the rapidly growing global demand for probiotics.
Phase One, supporting current growth, is ongoing in Madison, Wis., and Rochester, N.Y., and will be partially complete by the end of 2016.
The second phase is scheduled to span two years, optimizing production with the installation of new, high-volume fermenters and other processing equipment.
“We see strong growth worldwide, and increasing our capacity enables our partners to continue growing and capturing the opportunities from very favorable market trends,” said president Matthias Heinzel.
Probiotics have seen rapid adoption.
In the US, consumer awareness is at an all-time high (75%), according to the Natural Marketing Institute.
Meanwhile, Euromonitor data shows an increase in the compound annual growth rate for 2015 to 2020 in every global region – from 4.5% in Asia Pacific to 26% in South America.
Health-conscious consumers are addressing personal health concerns by including probiotics in their daily health and wellness routines.
“Consumers want to proactively take care of their health, and they’re increasingly turning to probiotics to fill that need,” said John Rea, global business unit leader for Probiotics, Cultures, Food Protection and HMOs.
“We have found through proprietary research that consumers feel probiotics offer a great way to improve their overall health and wellness.”
“And they see probiotics playing the role of a ‘balancer’ in the midst of a stress-filled, fast-paced lifestyle.”
