German food company Beneo has announced a major investment program in capacity extension for prebiotic chicory root fibre worldwide.
Credit: Beneo
The company has long-term experience in developing and producing plant-based functional ingredients from natural sources for food, feed and pharmaceutical products.
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The company has recently defined a multi-million investment programme for the coming years to expand capacity for its prebiotic chicory root fibre production sites in Pemuco, Chile and Oreye, Belgium.
The first step will see more than €30 million invested. The entire programme will ensure a significant capacity increase of more than 40% of Beneo’s global chicory root fibre production to meet rising customer demand and drive further growth within the market. The work on both production sites will start in 2022.
Current market trends see a high demand for prebiotic chicory root fibre due to the versatile benefits it offers in product development. Over the past four years, the number of new product launches containing chicory root fibre inulin has grown by 50% globally.
The chicory root fibres inulin and oligofructose are the only plant-based prebiotics. According to the International Scientific Association for Pro- and Prebiotics (ISAPP), they belong to the very few proven prebiotics.
The use of chicory root fibres in product development allows manufacturers to respond to leading consumer trends such as digestive health and immunity, inner well-being, weight management, blood sugar management and bone health.
Christoph Boettger, member of the Executive Board at Beneo commented: “Beneo’s chicory root fibres meet key consumer needs of today and we are convinced that they will continue to play a central role in healthy nutrition in the future. With increased capacity, Beneo continues to offer a secure supply to its customers and partners worldwide.”
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He further affirmed that in addition to increased capacity, the investment will also reduce CO2 emissions. "The production site in Pemuco will be carbon neutral in a few years. Additionally, the site in Oreye will have reduced the specific energy consumption per tonne of product by more than 50% by 2030.”
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