Europe: Barry Callebaut opens €100M warehouse in Belgium

The Barry Callebaut Chocolate Box opens as the new Global Distribution Center in Lokeren, Belgium. It is reportedly the world’s largest chocolate warehouse and will be the logistical hub for all packed Belgian chocolate and decorations products, produced in Barry Callebaut’s chocolate factories in Wieze and Halle, Belgium. The Chocolate Box is the result of a successful partnership between Barry...

Africas: Cargill finishes US$100M facility expansion to meet dark brown cocoa powder demand

Cargill has completed a US$100 million expansion of its cocoa processing facilities in Yopougon, Côte d’Ivoire, making the Yopougon facility the single largest cocoa-grinding plant in Africa. The upgrades, which also included infrastructure enhancements and safety improvements, increased production capacity at the site by 50%, creating nearly 100 full-time, local jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs. A significant share of...

Americas: DSM buys First Choice Ingredients for US$453M

Royal DSM has acquired First Choice Ingredients, supplier of dairy-based savory flavorings, for an enterprise value of US$453 million. First Choice Ingredients has built a position in the US taste market as a partner with food producers, flavor houses and food service suppliers. The company ferments and blends a variety of natural dairy products to develop clean label, dairy...

Europe: Novozymes releases yeast with longer fermentation period

Novozymes releases Innova Quantum, a yeast that enables ethanol plants with longer fermentation times of more than 60 hours for higher ethanol yields and processing efficiencies, and without trade-offs. Producers can increase ethanol yield by 2-3% with the new yeast, which for a 100MGY plant translates to an additional US$1-2 million in revenue. Quantum with new strain development can...

Asia Pacific, Europe: Probiotic strain found to reduce colic-related fuss among infants, Chr Hansen

Up to one in four infants experience colic, often manifesting in excessive crying and fussing, say Chr Hansen. In a new study, children with colic consuming Chr. Hansen’s BB-12 probiotic strain Bifidobacterium, have experienced less excessive crying and fussing, accompanied by increased sleep time. The mechanism by which the ingredient exerts a beneficial effect on the study group is...

Americas: GNT pumps US$30M in site expansion plan

GNT will invest US$30 million to expand its operation in Gaston County, US for the local market and those in Canada, and Mexico. "Part of our Strategic Growth Plan is a multiple phase expansion in North America. I am happy to announce the completion of the initial phase with our warehouse commissioning on October 15, 2021," says CEO Hendrik Hoeck....

Asia Pacific: SIG, DNP enters Japan with filling technology

The 50-50 joint venture DNP • SIG Combibloc is bringing packaging innovation and value-added filling technology to Japan, with SIG’s on-the-go combismile carton pack. Co-packer Cosmo Foods will be the first company in Japan to install a high speed combismile filling machine from SIG. With integrated drinksplus technology, Cosmo Foods can develop and fill new product concepts with tangible added...

Europe: Tetra Pak, Poka release zero waste tools for factories

Tetra Pak and Poka, a connected factory worker platform, are collaborating to offer workers tools and training to accelerate zero waste processes in food manufacturing plants. It is reportedly the first global and scalable connected workforce service that Tetra Pak will roll out as part of its new training and support solution. According to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12,...

World: Consumers value immune health support, finds Cargill

Cargill’s global Feed4Thought survey of 3,008 consumers across three continents uncovered that interest in immune health support increased since the pandemic began and is predicted to continue longer-term. Among the respondents, 84% of Chinese, 64% of American and 58% of British consumers noted that immune support has become more important to them since the start of the pandemic. Other key...

Europe: Barry Callebaut Group buys Belgium specialty chocolate maker

The Barry Callebaut Group has signed an agreement to acquire Europe Chocolate Company (ECC), a Belgian privately-owned B2B manufacturer of chocolate specialties and decorations. This will expand the Group's value adding specialties capabilities, especially highly customized specialty chocolate and decorations. ECC has been manufacturing specialty chocolate ingredients since 1993. Today, ECC produces a wide range of industrial specialty chocolate and...