National Starch praised for innovation
on its innovative nature, has been rewarded for its efforts.
Food manufacturer Johannna Foods has praised National Starch for its innovation in the field of ingredients, in particular its range of specialty starches used by Johanna Foods to provide texture to their yogurt products and drinks.
Roger Pearly, vice president of purchasing for Flemington, New Jersey based Johanna Foods , said: "This vendor produces the special ingredients that make La Yogurt great, and strengthens our research and ingredient formulation with a full range of consumer-driven, science-based solutions."
Johanna's leading brands include La Yogurt, Sabor Latino yogurt and drinks, Tree Ripe juices and Ssips chilled beverages and drink boxes.
Since 1 January the ICI specialty starch subsidiary has been known globally as National Starch Food Innovation, instead of National Starch and Chemical.
This change was aimed at moving away from any chemical connotations and towards a "clean label" image, Laurent Michoud, marketing director for Europe, told FoodNavigatorUSA.com.
"The word chemical didn't reflect our presence in the food industry," he said, adding that there was a need to sound more "natural", to emphasize the natural roots of starch in maize, rice and tapioca. Hence also the change in color of the logo from red to green. "We know the new innovation slogan is a bit arrogant, but it helps focus attention on the fact we are in the starch business yet also going into new areas," said Michoud at the time.
The innovation starch market is increasing at a confident 10-20 percent a year. Outside the EU and the US, Asia - and particularly China - is a growth market for National Starch.
The company has recently built a plant in Shanghai - which started production at start of 2005 - to serve this potentially huge market. The 68,000-square-metre plant produces speciality food starch ingredients from corn, tapioca, potatoes and rice, as well as pharmaceutical grade starches for medical applications.
