ORAFTI, the Belgian company providing chicory-based food ingredients inulin, oligofructose and fructose, has announced that it will build a new production plant in Australia. Georges Smits, Chief Executive Officer at ORAFTI said "This is a very exciting time for ORAFTI. The new plant is proof of our strong belief in the future of the company and further strengthens our position as market leaders. We are delighted to be locating our new plant in Australia where we feel ORAFTI can contribute to the fast-growing food ingredients industry in the region." According to ORAFTI, the Australian plant, located in Queensland, would be operational in 2003 and would extract, refine and package inulin and oligofructose. The new plant will use ORAFTI's proprietary process technology. Australia's climate enables chicory to be grown for a longer period of the year. According to ORAFTI, the plant would be designed to adapt its production capacity to market growth. The investment over the next five year will exceed Euro100m.
