Danisco targets freeze-dried dairy cultures
expansion programme, investing €3m in ramping up production
capacity of freeze-dried cultures at its plant in Sassenge.
The new facilities will become available gradually between now and the end of 2007. The investment will allow for improved productivity of existing equipment, as well as purchasing of new, state-of-the art equipment.
Danisco said health and nutrition were driving growing demand for cultures and that freeze-dried cultures were key for cheese, fresh dairy products, and dietary supplements manufacturers.
This is because the technology gives firms more blending options, easy storage and lower logistic costs.
Cultures sales for fresh dairy products are growing by between nine and ten per cent, and cheese by about two or three per cent, according to Danisco Cultures spokesperson Nathalie Brosse.
Brosse added that demand for cultures in dietary supplements was growing by around 15 per cent, while their use in beverages and probiotics was "developing nicely".
Danisco's new expansion is part of a global strategy to lead the world cultures market, according to Fabienne Saadane-Oaks, president of Danisco Cultures.
And the move comes on the back of a capacity increase at Danisco's Niebüll, Germany site, which is expected to be effective from the beginning of 2006.
Brosse said that further news is expected by the end of the year regarding expansions at Danisco's other culture's sites at Dangé Saint Romain and Epernon in France, Olsztyn in Poland, and Madison in the United States.
She could not reveal the full production capacity that the programme should yield once fully implemented, but said that it will be close to that of the leading cultures producer - believed by DairyReporter.com to be Chr Hansen.
Danisco's cultures unit was created in 2004 after the acquisition of Rhodia Foods, whose food ingredients division was very active in the cultures market.
The firm was recently names as one of Europe's top four enzyme companies alongside Chr Hansen, DSM and Novozymes in a report by Frost & Sullivan this month.
The report said rising cheese consumption and rising consumer demand for low-lactose and lactose-free dairy products was driving Europe's €54.4m ($65.5m) dairy enzyme market.
Development has also been spurred on by dairy processors' increasing desires to bump up earnings across the industry. Many firms are trying to add value to products like cheese and milk, which have been bogged down in commodity categories.
