Danisco cultures keep up good growth

While the ingredients company declined to reveal sales and growth trends for the segment during the first half, cultures president Fabienne Saadane-Oaks said it has seen double-digit growth this year.

This helped the Specialty Products unit record a sales increase of 2 per cent during the first six months, despite the decline in sales of flavours, accounting for about half of the turnover at this unit.

"We have the right products at the right time in the right regions. We are also reaping the benefits of innovative efforts of the past,"​ explained Saadane-Oaks.

"We have introduced a series of new ranges for yoghurt with interesting properties. And the whole development of probiotics is really pulling growth."​

Sales for fresh dairy products are growing by between nine and ten per cent, compared to about two to three per cent in cheese.

This growth is even stronger in the Asia-Pacific region, where sales are up by more than 40 per cent so far this year as the region sees booming demand for dairy products. In October Danisco opened a new innovation centre in Singapore to capitalise further on this demand.

Danisco has invested in the texturising properties of strains, recently patenting a strain with polysaccharide production properties that is already being used in a lot of new ranges.

"In the next quarter we will launch a fast acidification yoghurt range,"​ revealed Saadane-Oaks.

The probiotic cultures have proved particularly successful in the North American market, where demand is growing at a rate of around 15 percent.

"We have a unique approach of using strong strains in combination, rather than a single probiotic strain,"​ said Saadane-Oaks.

She added that there is good potential for probiotics beyond dairy and supplements, such as in beverages, confectionery and spreads.

"These are things we're pursuing. We may not be used to working with confectionery in the culture division but the flavours division is,"​ said Saadane-Oaks.