One out of every three loaves of bread produced around the globe by a commercial bakery contains emulsifiers from Danisco. So the company claims this week. According to a statement the company is seeing an increasing demand for emulsifiers worldwide, a result of greater demands on consumers for their time and the fact that less food is prepared from scratch. Today more products that include some prior preparation are being consumed. These foods require functional ingredients such as emulsifiers to make all of the other ingredients homogenous.
"It's a question of convenience. As the prepared food market continues to grow and the demand for these products continues to grow, we'll see the demand for Danisco's emulsifiers continue to grow," said John Miller, Director SBU Emulsifiers with Danisco.
Emulsifiers are produced from natural raw materials, such as palm oil, and are used by bakeries to secure a homogenous bread quality, irrespective of varying flour quality and variations in baking conditions. In the margarine industry, emulsifiers are used to ensure a stable mix of water and oil and allow for a creamy, soft, easy to apply texture. Emulsifiers are also used in ice cream products, where they serve to prevent the formation of ice crystals, and in a broad range of other products, often for the purpose of extending the shelf life of products.
Danisco has five production sites worldwide: Brazil, Malaysia, USA, China and Denmark.
"Our multinational clients can get a consistent quality of product for their plants throughout the world," said Miller. "They can also get supply in a much more convenient and economical manner," he continued.
But will these facilities be able to meet the increased needs of the future? "As we see our demand start to approach our supply, we go through a process of debottlenecking capacity, and capacity expansion," said Miller. "We're constantly looking for ways to improve our processes, in order to increase the capacity of our producing units," Miller added.
New projects are on the table to meet demands elsewhere in the world.
"We have plans to expand in Malaysia, the USA and Brazil, " Miller concluded.