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Ziemann Holvrieka, a leading German provider of tanks and process technology for the beer, the beverage and food industry, has broken ground on a new facility in the Amistad Chuy María Industrial Park, located in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, near the capital city of Saltillo. The ceremonial groundbreaking event, attended by the Governor of Coahuila, Manolo Jiménez Salinas, marks a significant milestone in the company’s expansion efforts and underscores its commitment to the region.

With a projected total investment of 20 million dollars, Ziemann Holvrieka’s new production plant is poised to generate 150 new jobs in the Southeastern region of Coahuila. The facility will specialise in the manufacturing of stainless steel tanks, execution of EPC-Projects and overall customer services tailored to the needs of the liquid food industry and to serve our existing huge installed base, bolstering local employment opportunities and contributing to the economic growth of the area.

Speaking at the event, Governor Manolo Jiménez Salinas expressed his enthusiasm for the project, emphasising the importance of collaboration between government and industry in fostering economic development. “We are delighted to welcome Ziemann Holvrieka to Coahuila,” remarked Governor Jiménez. “Our state is committed to supporting businesses that seek to invest, innovate, and create jobs within our borders.”

Ziemann Holvrieka’s decision to establish a presence in Ramos Arizpe reflects its strategic vision for serving the growing demand for liquid processing solutions in Mexico. Klaus Gehrig, the company’s CEO, highlighted Mexico’s significance as the largest market of the group over the past decade and underlines their dedication to providing exceptional service to the clients from their new facility in Coahuila. Additionally, the company will extend its services and supplies to support the operations of its sister companies, DME and Briggs of Burton, catering to their customers in Mexico.
The new production plant, spanning 48,000 square meters, will feature state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities covering 6,500 square meters and accommodate 1,404 square meters office area across a three-story building. This investment underlines Ziemann Holvrieka’s long-term commitment to delivering high-quality products and services to its customers while leveraging the region’s skilled workforce and favorable logistical advantages.

Ziemann Holvrieka’s expansion represents a testament to Coahuila’s attractiveness to international investors, particularly from Europe. Governor Jiménez reaffirmed the state’s commitment to fostering an environment conducive to investment and job creation, emphasising Coahuila’s status as a prime destination for businesses seeking to thrive and succeed.

The ceremony was attended by distinguished guests, including local government officials, representatives from industry associations, and key stakeholders, underscoring the collaborative effort to drive economic prosperity in the region.

Agriculture Growing & Processing Facility Equipment

Hobart FT1000SI (Photo: James G. Murphy Co.)

Sponsored Post – In this agriculture growing & processing facility auction we will have items from these categories: Climate Controlled Rooms, Roll Up Doors, Air Handling Units, Robot Track Pallet Racking & Pallet Runner, Conveyor Washer & Conveyors, Separators, Fillers, Centrifuge Machines, Rolling Stock, Pallet Racking, Palletizer & Depalletizer & Misc. Equipment.
Go to Murphyauction.com for a full list of items!

Start Date: 10:00 AM | Tuesday – October 17
End Date: 10:00 AM | Tuesday – October 24
Preview 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM | Monday, October 23
Location: 200 Titchenal Rd, Ste. 1, Cashmere, WA 98815

Go to murphyauction.com for more information!

One of the leading plant-based food and beverage companies expands footprint for innovation and to increase manufacturing capabilities, double business by 2025 compared to 2020

SunOpta, a U.S.-based, global pioneer fueling the future of sustainable, plant-based and fruit-based food and beverages, announced the opening of its new plant-based beverage production facility in Midlothian, Texas, bringing up to 175 new jobs to the area. The new mega facility will manufacture the company’s entire suite of plant-based milks and creamers, along with tea and other products. Various package sizes and configurations will be produced including 16-ounce and 32-ounce packages typically used in food service, shelf-stable retail, and e-commerce for plant-based milk products, and 330-milliliter packages used primarily in high-protein nutritional beverages.

“This plant is an important part of SunOpta’s long-term goals and a powerful next step in our company vision,” said Joe Ennen, CEO of SunOpta. “The fully-equipped and state-of-the-art facility will enhance our manufacturing and supply chain capabilities. In addition, through innovation and our dedication to sustainability, we can respond to the increasing nationwide demand for plant-based food and beverages.”

By 2025, SunOpta aims to double its plant-based business and has invested nearly USD 200 million in its plant-based production capacity in the last three years to support the accelerated growth and developing demand for plant- based milk alternatives. This new Midlothian plant will add capacity and new capabilities to accelerate growth and reduce production costs to serve and meet the growing needs of SunOpta’s customers.

Designed with SunOpta’s sustainability objectives in mind, the new Midlothian plant will reduce carbon emissions, conserve water, effciently utilise power and use recycled materials. With the plant strategically placed in Texas, SunOpta will significantly reduce emissions through lower transportation usage. The plant’s regional location will reduce more than 15 million freight miles annually and save 59 million pounds of carbon emissions. In addition, the facility is equipped with water reuse equipment that can save up to 20 million gallons of water a year, an energy-effcient HVAC system that reduces energy consumption by 45 %, LED lights and water heaters that reduce power usage by 95 %, and offces and labs constructed with at least 40 % recyclable materials.

As of now, the new production facility has 285,000 square feet, with the capacity to expand to 400,000 square feet to take on future growth. When fully expanded, the facility will be SunOpta’s largest plant for plant-based food and beverages. The new Midlothian site is located at 4126 Power Way, Midlothian, Texas 76065. In combination with SunOpta’s plants in California, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, the Texas location creates a competitively advantaged, ‘diamond-shaped’ national network for national distribution.

SunOpta works closely with the City of Midlothian and other key partners to minimise the environmental footprint of the manufacturing process.

New South African facility will produce sustainable nutrition solutions for consumers across the continent

Kerry, one of the world’s leading taste and nutrition companies, officially opened the largest and most advanced taste manufacturing facility on the African continent. The new EUR 38 m facility is located in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and will produce sustainable nutrition solutions that will be consumed across the African continent.

The new 10,000 m2 facility is one of the company’s most environmentally efficient manufacturing sites with numerous sustainability features including low energy usage equipment, solar power generation to reduce consumption from the local grid, waste heat capture and efficient water capture, reuse and reduction.

Kerry is also expanding its Development and Application Centre in Nairobi, Kenya to further support customers in East Africa and the development of sustainable food processing for the continent.

GEA Group AG, as key project partner, has provided innocent, one of Europe’s leading smoothie and juice brands, with the process technology for the world’s first carbon-neutral juice factory. The new factory in the Netherlands will lead the way for future plants in the food industry with a truly sustainable approach. Located at the Rotterdam Food Hub, the production facility is scheduled to open officially in spring 2022.

In the new-build project, GEA is responsible for the process, refrigeration and heating technology. Early involvement in the design planning phase enabled the company to develop numerous innovative process changes that significantly help innocent on the path to reaching its climate goals.

“The innocent project is an outstanding example of how we put our purpose of ‘engineering for a better world’ into practice,” said GEA CEO Stefan Klebert. “Not only have we integrated the most resource-efficient technologies, we have also entirely rethought the processes as well as the heating and refrigeration systems. Together with innocent, we have pushed the envelope beyond standard beverage production practice.”

Energy supply and demand cycle

Since much of the energy used in production is for heat, GEA worked intensively on in-process energy and resource efficiency. The company also applied the sustainable energy solutions (SEnS) approach. This factors heating and cooling requirements into the systems right at the planning stage, instead of after the fact when corrections are virtually no longer possible. For instance, a GEA heat pump will recover waste heat from the refrigeration systems and reuse it in other process steps. GEA and innocent recently won gold in the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) People’s Choice Award for this smart heat pump design.

GEA builds world’s first carbon-neutral juice production facility for innocent
The intelligent heat pump design in combination with the process adaptations convinced the audience at the Heat Pump Awards 2021: GEA and innocent drinks jointly won gold in the People’s Choice Award of the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) for the new juice factory. Every year, the EHPA honors the most efficient and sustainable heat pump solutions with the Heat Pump Award. (Photo: GEA)

Showcase for the entire beverage industry

Taking a 360-degree view of the process chain will allow innocent to substantially cut its carbon footprint while massively influencing other parameters such as water consumption and waste generation.

“I take my hat off to GEA because they have been at our side every step of the way, helping us challenge conventional design approaches. All the little details add up to a great success,” said Andy Joynson, Chief Blender (Site Director) at the new innocent plant. The new solutions implemented go far beyond conventional beverage production processes. “Food and beverage manufacturers can choose to base their future plant designs on our model. We want to inspire and support a broad-based transformation. In line with that, we are consciously inviting the industry to share in our findings—and at the same time to learn from our missteps and our successes.”

GNT, manufacturer of EXBERRY® Coloring Foods, has announced an initial investment of $30 million to expand its operation in North America. Centrally located in Gaston County, just outside of Charlotte, the 49-acre facility now takes the company’s operations to new heights and will provide significant advantages for its customers throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Hendrik Hoeck, CEO at GNT Group B.V., said: “As the global leader of coloring food we see consistent demand for our colors as the consumption of products that are formulated with EXBERRY® continues to grow. Part of our Strategic Growth Plan is a multiple phase expansion in North America. I am happy to announce the completion of the initial phase with our warehouse commissioning on October 15, 2021. This will bring increased capacity, supply-chain efficiency and improved control of inventory.”

“Our strategy to create awareness of coloring food in the US in the last quarter century has been well executed by our marketing and sales team. As a result, today you will find ‘Fruit and vegetable juice for color’ on the label of many supermarkets’ products and also in food service items,” says Frederik Hoeck, Managing Director at GNT Group B.V..

As a family-owned business, throughout their forty-five year history, the goal at GNT is to continuously invest in innovation and this new facility will deliver on this fundamental objective. “Our globally aligned innovation focus fields are a big part of our investment strategy to offer new coloring food solutions. The expected completion of the next phase will bring finished good production even closer to our North American customers by the end of 2022. This will increase the speed of bringing innovation to market,” says Hendrik Hoeck.

A Technical and Culinary Experience Center, scheduled to open August 2022, will provide visitors and culinary teams with an unprecedented opportunity to experiment, create, and innovate together. Per Frederik Hoeck, “We look forward hosting workshops which will enable customers to meet teams of R&D scientists in person to collaborate on color matching, pilot plant trials, and more.”

SIG’s second state-of-the-art production plant for aseptic carton packaging in China is now up and running. Despite challenges posed by the pandemic, the large-scale project has been successfully implemented, once again demonstrating SIG’s ongoing commitment to engineering excellence and sustainability leadership.

The new plant is located close to SIG’s existing production facility at the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), which allows for shared resources in both production and operations. The new facility is also close to SIG’s Asia Pacific Tech Center, with industry-leading innovation capabilities that bring a flow of new concepts and solutions to SIG customers. Having the Tech Centre nearby ensures SIG can keep pace with, and anticipate, new trends.

Samuel Sigrist, CEO of SIG: “The Asia Pacific region continues to be one of the major growth engines for aseptic carton packaging. The expansion of our production network will enable us to further strengthen our position in the growing Chinese market. It also means we can respond more quickly to the needs of our customers to provide holistic solutions to the food and beverage industry.”

By building a second production plant in China, SIG is committed to serving the Chinese market by providing high-quality products and services to customers across the Asia Pacific region. The entire production process in the new plant is managed intelligently, which significantly improves operational and production efficiency. The smart manufacturing system covers extrusion, printing, creasing, cutting and sealing.

Samuel Sigrist continues: “SIG has built up a strong customer base across the Asia Pacific region, providing outstanding innovation capability and end-to-end solutions for differentiated products, smarter factories and connected packs. Our close partnership with the two largest Chinese dairies, and other food and beverage companies, will continue to grow and develop.”

By 2024, the new plant will cover an area of 120,000 square metres and is expected to have an annual production capacity of 8 billion carton packs. It has been designed and built to have the lowest possible carbon emissions, with an artistic combination of classical Chinese garden and modern elements. Photovoltaic panels on the roofs can provide 1.5 million kWh of solar energy and collected rainwater is also reused after treatment to save around 28,000 tonnes of tap water per annum. In addition to energy-saving lighting devices, special lighting systems are installed to significantly reduce electricity consumption.

The new plant’s best-in-class environmental, safety and operation performance has already been recognised with a prestigious international industry certification: LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification for building design and construction. LEED is a green building certification programme created by the U.S. Green Building Council which is used worldwide. SIG’s new packaging plant was the first plant in China’s aseptic packaging industry to be built in strict accordance with the LEED gold certification standard.

Please watch how SIG is expanding its presence in Asia Pacific.

Tauber-Arons auctioneers sell machinery of SunOpta facility end of JulySponsored Post – Timed online only auction! A surplus to the ongoing successful operations of SunOpta, a producer of plant-based and organic foods and beverages.

Immaculate fruit-based aseptic filling & processing facility for sale!

Closing South Gate, CA facility only.

Thursday, July 29 bidding begins closing at 11:00 am.

Full catalogue posted! Everything up for viewing.

LOCATION:
SunOpta
12128 Center Street
South Gate CA 90280, USA

TRAILERS & TRUCKS:

  • (1994) Polar 10,000 Gal. S.S. Tank
  • (3) 53’ Refrigerated Trailers
  • Ford F250 Truck
  • S.S. TOTES
  • (1000) 250-300 Gal. S.S. Tub, 370 lb. Jelly, Bottom Fill

ASEPTIC FILLING LINE:

  • (2011) Aseptic Filling Line w/ (2) 1,000 Gal. S.S. Mixing Tanks (no jacket) w/ (2) Feed Tanks, Breddo 40 HP Likiwifier , 70 Tube In Tube Heat Exchanger (Cooker) w/ 50hp Pump for the Heat Exchanger, Small CIP, Sm. Pump, Scholle AF210E Dual Small Bag Filler; 8-Station Liquid
  • Dispensing Pumps
  • T0 1000 Gal Tanks w/ CIP

FILLERS

  • 4-Stage 50 Gal. Filler to 370lb S.S. jelly Tanks; CIP, 4-Stage 370 Gal. ea.
  • Scholle 10-2E, 2-Head Large Bag Filler

VOTATOR:

  • (1980) C.B. 6-Station Votator w/ Feed Pump System-Fristam FDS2

HOMOGENIZER:

  • (2010) Gaulin Homogenizer

TANKS & KETTLES:

  • (4) 400-500 Gal. Rectangular Jacketed Mixing Kettles
  • Likiwifier Jacketed 30hp
  • Groen 200 Gal. Kettle w/ Pump

FORKLIFTS:

  • (2) Toyota Forklifts
Tauber-Arons auctioneers sell machinery of SunOpta facility end of July
Steel Tanks (Photo: SunOpta)

MISC. FACILITY:

  • (7) Digital Scales
  • (6) Battery Chargers
  • Great Lakes Nitrogen Generator
  • Spare Parts Upper Level w/ Mezzanine
  • Trane Chiller
  • (3) Steel Tanks
  • (2000) McKenna 50hp Boiler
  • (2009) Hurst 150 PSI Boiler w/ Still
  • (2011) Hurst 150 psi boiler, w/still
  • (2019) G.D. 50hp Rotary Screw Air Compressor
  • G.D. 40hp Rotary Screw Air Compressor
  • G.D. Dryer
  • Ridgid 535 Pipe Threader
  • GS 1930 Scissor Lift
  • (2) Pumps
  • Metal on Rack
  • (3) Pallet Lifts
  • Extra Aseptic Pump (Outside)
  • (2) Edlund Can Openers w/ table
  • Mixing Kettle
  • Vacuum Kettle
  • Trash Compactor
  • 2,000 Gal. S.S. Tank
  • Plastic Pallets
  • (2) Dock Ramps
  • Lantech Pallet Wrapper
  • Pallet Racks
  • (10) Roll Up Doors
  • Upender
  • Factory CAT Sweeper

For information contact: Tauber Arons, Inc., Telephone 323-851-2008 or go to www.tauberaronsinc.com

Kerry, one of the world’s leading taste and nutrition companies, has announced the opening of its new taste facility in Latin America, which will serve mainly Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and the Andean region. 

Located in Irapuato, Mexico, the new state-of-the-art facility will significantly increase Kerry’s capacity in the region and further support customers in delivering local and sustainable taste solutions.

This new site expands Kerry’s offerings across a number of food and beverage categories, including refreshing and alcoholic beverages, snacks, meat, dairy and bakery. It will also play an important role in enabling Kerry’s ambition to bring sustainable nutrition solutions to more than two billion people by 2030 around the globe. Aligned with the company’s commitments under its Beyond the Horizon strategy, the facility incorporates world leading processes and technologies that will support the company’s environmental goals. These capabilities, combined with expertise across sustainable innovation, marketing insights, research, development and applications, and sensory science, will enable Kerry to co-create with customers, exciting products that will be consumed across the region.

“COVID-19 has impacted consumer behaviour and taste preferences across Latin America, and companies need to be in a position to understand and respond to these evolving dynamics. This new taste facility allows us to deliver on consumer demands across the region and we look forward to working with customers to bring innovative taste solutions to satisfy consumer needs and create a world of sustainable nutrition,” said Marcelo Marques, President and CEO of Kerry Latin America. 
Commenting on the announcement, Edson Cortes, Taste Lead for Kerry Latin America, added: “Mexico boasts 35% of the taste market in the Latin America region and presents solid opportunities for growth and innovation. With sustainability at the core of our Taste portfolio, this site will also enable us to deliver tailored solutions for customers in the regions. This important investment positions Kerry as the leader in the flavours market in Latin America as we seek to consolidate our position in the market and deliver great taste solutions with our customers.”

About Kerry
Kerry, one of the world’s leading taste and nutrition companies, provides sustainable nutrition solutions for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Every day over one billion people around the world enjoy food and beverages containing Kerry’s taste and nutrition solutions. The company has offices in 31 countries, 149 manufacturing facilities and employs 26,000 people globally, including over 1,000 food scientists. We aim to be our customers’ most valued partner by delivering food and beverage products that meet their consumers’ individual taste, nutrition and wellness preferences, while enhancing their lives and contributing to a more sustainable world.

Purpose built and designed with significantly more capacity, efficiency and data harvesting to drive growth

Treatt, an ingredients manufacturer and solutions provider to the global flavour, fragrance and consumer goods markets, has partnered with Siemens Digital Industries (DI) to build a world class digital manufacturing facility at its £41m new global headquarters.

Treatt’s purpose-built site in Bury St Edmunds replaces the existing complex in the town which has served as the company’s headquarters since 1971.

The new facility will bring together, under one roof, over 200 people in its science led distillation, manufacturing, logistics, technical and office-based functions in a once in a generation relocation upgrade to provide the scalable platform for further growth.

The factory will be controlled by Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 system which will offer Treatt more data, flexibility, scalability, availability, safety, and security in its production process.

Crucially it will automate its entire production process, enabling Treatt to increase efficiency and productivity, consistency, reliability, throughput, and repeatability.

The new factory is built and designed to have significantly more operational capacity in an optimally designed production space.

Mark Higham, General Manager, Process Automation, Siemens DI, said, “It is important for us to work very closely with Treatt to ensure we deliver the best solutions for their new headquarters.”

Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 distributed control system is a flexible and scalable platform which addresses the wide-ranging needs of the process industries. It has an open system architecture covering the entire production process ensuring the efficient interaction of all automation components in the factory.

Higham added, “Considering that Treatt is bringing all its functions of distillation, manufacturing and logistics operations under one roof then SIMATIC PCS 7 was a perfect fit.”

Some of the features of SIMATIC PCS 7 are its consistent approach to data management, the application of global standards, powerful and compact hardware and proven software libraries. These common features minimise the engineering overheads, reduce costs, shorten time to market and increase the flexibility of the plant.

Daemmon Reeve, Group CEO of Treatt said “As a science led innovator of ingredients designed to enable our customers to differentiate in the marketplace, we are excited to work with Siemens to drive a wide range of benefits into our world class manufacturing business.”

“Treatt sources a wide range of natural raw materials from supply partners around the world. As expected, nature provides variation in flavour profile from season to season and our job is to ensure consistency in the wide-ranging extracts we create for customers through complex distillation and extraction processes, so their beverages have the critical consistency in flavour profile.”

Treatt has a bespoke and dedicated analysis system which is now aligned and fully integrated with the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 system to capture the results and data for future use as the company drives into further areas of digitalisation for the business.

In addition, Siemens has won a three-year service contract to support the new production facility.

Bruce Sinclair, Engineering & Site Services Manager, Treatt commented “The three-year service support contract is necessary as our operations team will be reliant on the new control systems for increased and efficient productivity. It is essential for us that maintenance of the new systems remain at a high standard set by the suppliers of the technology for longevity and competence.”

Siemens has already begun providing support with upskilling Treatt’s employees to use the new systems and their instrumentation engineer has completed a two-week training course at a Siemens site.

“Moving to the new site will be beneficial for our operation and our customers will see very clearly how our science led, customer partnership model is transforming Treatt into a crucial partner for those customers wanting true authenticity in natural extracts to enable them to win, that is what motivates us” says Reeve.

Higham, added, “I am delighted that our projects team are partnering with Treatt to deliver this advanced control system which will provide the backbone for their production processes and support their digitalisation journey.

“With digitalisation, we help manufacturers become more agile, and provide tools for reducing operations costs whilst increasing efficiency and reducing time to market.  In addition, our fully integrated safety and security concepts ascertain a safe production environment for employees and the facilities where they are deployed.”

Siemens has teamed up with a fully certified Process Instrumentation Approved Partner for the deployment of the full range of its instrumentation portfolio across all lines of production at the plant.

Jon Tayler, Director at Process Instrument Sales Ltd, commented: “Our strategy for Treatt was to provide a technically correct and commercially effective solution for the instrumentation requirements of the demanding process systems, whilst ensuring efficiencies, safe working practices and environmental criteria.

“Our long-standing relationship with Treatt, as their approved partner, meant that we are able to be an essential element of the Total Integrated Solution that Siemens promotes for seamless process control and monitoring, which is what the engineering team at Treatt have set out to achieve.”

As well as its UK operation Treatt has a manufacturing site in the USA and a sales office in China, with a network of agents throughout the world.

New state-of-the-art fully automated high-bay cold-storage facility at City Terminal Rotterdam

Kloosterboer starts the construction of a new state-of-the-art fully automated multi-customer high-bay cold-storage facility with a storage capacity of 60,000 pallets at City Terminal Rotterdam (NL). The building is expected to be finished by January of 2022.

Two years after the realisation of Kloosterboer Cool Port I, an ultra-modern fruit terminal that offers a combination of cool and cold storage capacity, Kloosterboer is now developing a state-of-the-art fully automated high-rise cold-storage warehouse at City Terminal Rotterdam. Pallets will be brought in on self-unloading or conventional trucks and are then automatically taken from the shipping hall via conveyer belts, turntables and sluices to the cold-storage facility, where cranes will automatically place the pallets in their designed position.

Sustainability is a key concern for Kloosterboer. The high-rise cold-storage warehouse is 35-45% more energy efficient than a conventional cold-storage facility. The forty-metre-tall building will be constructed in accordance with the high BREEAM requirements. Kloosterboer intends to install approximately 2,700 solar panels on the building’s roof. Together with the existing solar panel installation at Cool Port I, which consists of 11,000 solar panels, this makes Kloosterboer one of the leading companies in the port of Rotterdam when it comes to generating solar power for in-house use.

Kloosterboer is an entrepreneurial, innovative and sustainable logistics service provider. The construction of Cool Port II still leaves Kloosterboer with ample space for the next phase; Cool Port III.

Symrise experienced a premiere in a number of ways. The company opened its biggest individual investment and invested € 50 million in the construction of the new production site for flavorings and fragrances in Nantong. In addition, the Executive Board, senior staff, plant workers and guests opened the facility virtually – in a video conference – for the first time. Chief Executive Officer Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram and Chief Financial Officer Olaf Klinger conveyed their greetings via live video from Holzminden.

The decision to build at this location, in the industrial park on the green field, was made back in 2016. The site convinced the company with its versatile potential. Modern infrastructure, an attractive business environment and a number of sustainability aspects were the deciding factors in the plans for the site near Shanghai. Symrise celebrated its topping out ceremony two years ago. Already then, you could tell by its dimensions that the Group was building a state-of-the-art production facility geared toward the future and growth.

The expansion of the production of fragrances and flavorings in the rapidly expanding Chinese market makes sense, because the world’s second-largest economy has great potential to soon become number one. This development correlates with the history of Symrise in the country. In the past ten years, the company has grown around eight percent per year on average. With a six-percent share of total sales, China follows the USA and Germany as the third-strongest revenue-generating market for Symrise.

In this environment, Symrise is sending a clear signal for future growth in the region with its modern plant in Nantong – especially in light of the current situation. The company wants to build on its success with its proven strategy and dedicated team. The subsidiary Tesium, specialist in technology, safety and the environment, assisted the local Symrise experts in planning and implementation.

“The celebratory and partially virtual opening of our plant in Nantong demonstrates our trust in the Chinese market, and we are consciously committing ourselves to the world’s strongest growth region. Of course, we are also keeping a close eye on how the COVID-19 situation is progressing here,” comments CEO Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram on the strategic approach. “From these observations, we enacted measures and were successful in keeping our entire business running and opening our plant as planned. Ultimately, we want to reliably serve our customers in China and grow with them. A big thank you therefore goes to the flexibility and extreme dedication of our employees.”

Diana Food has opened a new R&D laboratory to drive its innovation in Consumer Health products.

Located in Québec City, Québec, the center will support a nearby facility where Diana produces nutritional ingredients for use in a range of health solutions. Rob Evans, Director of Research & Development at Diana Food, said, “The decision to create this new lab emphasizes Diana’s commitment to the market, the North American scientific community, and the company’s long-term growth in the consumer health category.”

The Research & Development facility’s location is a strategic one. Its proximity to Diana’s Consumer Health plant not only allows for the easy transfer of knowledge and technology, but also helps transfer laboratory innovation into scalable manufacturing. Additionally, the center is close to Quebec’s little fruits producing region, providing quick access to fresh, natural resources.

The creation of new products and processes will be a key focus at the new facility. The team working here, which includes scientists from Diana’s labs in France, will extract polyphenols from locally sourced materials like cranberries and blueberries and explore their application in health offerings like dietary supplements. As Mr. Evans noted, “These scientists are experts in the consumer health market and those coming from France bring with them prior expertise that will help expedite local development and testing.”

This Research & Development laboratory also echoes Diana’s work with the Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (INAF) at Laval University. Launched in November 2018, this Chair of Research is dedicated to researching the effects of fruit and vegetable-derived polyphenols on regulating microbiota in the human gut.

Diana Food’s ingredients are sourced from carefully selected raw materials and their solutions are supported by robust, clinically proven science. The company’s specializations in this category include sports nutrition products, functional food and drink to boost women’s health, and supplements to encourage healthy aging and add energy and vitality.

Döhler Group and Zumos Catalano Aragoneses S.A. (ZUCASA) have reached an agreement on the acquisition of the majority of shares in ZUCASA by the Döhler Group. With immediate effect, Döhler will manage ZUCASA’s juice production facility located in the Huesca region through its subsidiary Döhler Fraga S.L.

For Döhler, this transaction marks another great step forward in one of Europe’s largest fruit production areas. Customers will benefit from a more diverse offering in the stone fruits segment as well as in apples and pears; furthermore, the combined businesses will offer greater efficiency in a global market with regard to customised all-in-one solutions.

ZUCASA’s extensive expertise and ability to provide fruit and vegetable juices, purees and concentrates for food and beverages, combined with the broad product portfolio and the comprehensive industry knowledge of the Döhler Group, will create unique synergy effects. In the coming years, Döhler Group aims to set a benchmark within the sector and develop a plan of expansion and sustainable growth within its business model.

About ZUCASA:

Zumos Catalano Aragoneses S.A. is a producer of juices, purees and sweet fruit concentrates, vegetables and plants located in the region of Fraga (Huesca), with operations at the heart of Spain’s largest production area of sweet fruit between Huesca and Lleida. It has facilities spanning more than 24,000 m2 over an area of 168,000 m2, with capacity to store 32,000 m3 of natural fruit juices, purees and concentrates. ZUCASA began production in 2010 with three lines for processing fruits and vegetables: two of which for purees and a third for juices. Currently, it employs an average of 50 workers on permanent contracts, reaching 150 workers during high season. The company’s commitment to quality in production has been confirmed by the international certifications BRC, IFS, SGF, Kosher, FDA and others, which in turn have enabled it to expand internationally, with more than 60 % of revenues coming from exports.

World’s largest probiotics fermentation unit is operational at the DuPont Rochester facility 

DuPont announced it has completed construction on a new, state-of-the art probiotics fermentation unit at its Rochester, New York, facility. The unit, now largest in the world, is part of a multiphase nearly $100 million investment to expand probiotics capacity and enhance the company’s leadership in delivering high-quality, clinically documented probiotics to dietary supplement and food and beverage manufacturers.

The fermentation unit is fully operational and will serve as a crucial resource in propagating bacteria and enabling high potency, stability and efficacy of probiotics. Quality is extremely important in probiotic production, and the fermentation unit will also optimize DuPont’s production capability, enabling the company to increase the pace of delivery to customers and the market.

DuPont also completed a probiotics capacity expansion at its Madison, Wisconsin, facility in late 2018. The investment was used to upgrade equipment and increase the pace of new product development and significantly improved delivery times on pilot material for clinical trials and customer evaluations.

Lightweight Containers, the Dutch company that produces the revolutionary kegs for beverages, is currently investigating the possibilities for their sixth production facility that will be located in Italy.

Anita Veenendaal, Chief Executive Officer of Lightweight Containers, says: “In our philosophy, offering customers the best possible service and support means that we have to be present in the local market. At this moment we are already present in Italy with warehouses and a sales team and soon with a brand new production plant. This plant will be our sixth; as we already produce in The Netherlands, United States, Germany, United Kingdom and Spain (2019).”

The company focusses on the environment in addition to the production of a quality product, a new production line in Italy will contribute to lowering environmental footprints even further. Together with One Circle, an initiative of Lightweight Containers, aimed at the collection and recycling of one-way kegs in general, the company is really making a big difference in leaving the world a better place.

Stern-Wywiol Gruppe from Hamburg is adding to its production and sales network in south-east Asia by establishing a new production facility for its subsidiary, SternMaid Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd, in the Iskandar economic zone, Malaysia. After the plants in Suzhou (China) and Mumbai, this is the third food industry facility that the family enterprise has opened in Asia and its sixth outside Germany. Clients in the ASEAN region will in future benefit from more rapid deliveries, secure supply chains and applications advice from a consultant nearby.

The state-of-the-art facility is dedicated to the development and production of food ingredient systems to improve the functional qualities of food. The facility has three completely separate production lines; initially work will focus on enzyme-based ingredients systems for bakers and millers plus micronutrient mixes to fortify a wide variety of foods and beverages.

Ardagh Group announced the opening of its new can ends facility in Manaus, Brazil. The new facility houses state-of-the-art production and inspection equipment with capacity to produce 12 million ends per day.

“This significant investment in Manaus strengthens Ardagh Group’s position in the Brazilian market place, and complements our beverage can production facilities in Jacarei and Alagoinhas” said Augusto Seoane, Operations Director Ardagh Metal Beverage Brazil. “The new facility allows us to support both existing and new customer requirements.”

Employing a team of more than 80 people, the new facility consolidates the company’s position as a leading producer of beverage cans and ends in Brazil, serving a growing customer base. Universally recognised for its protective qualities, versatility and environmental credentials, metal is a permanent material meaning it can be infinitely recycled without loss of quality.

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK), a leading supplier of packaging products worldwide, announced that it will build a new plant in the Valencia region of Spain to produce aluminum beverage cans. The location of the facility, Parc Sagunt, is approximately 10 miles north of the city of Valencia, and was selected based on its close proximity to key customers as well as the excellent local infrastructure and transportation links.

The Company currently operates two steel beverage can plants in Spain, in Agoncillo and Seville, and will be constructing the new facility to meet the growing demand and preference for aluminum beverage cans in the Iberian region. The plant, which is expected to be operational during the fourth quarter of 2018, will have an initial annual capacity of approximately 900 million units in multiple sizes and will be designed to accommodate further expansion. Initially, the capacity will be utilized to facilitate customers’ transitions from steel to aluminum beverage cans and subsequently to support the growing demand for both beer and non-alcoholic beverage cans in the region.

Ziya Ozay, Senior Vice President CROWN Bevcan Europe and Middle East, commented, “We are excited about the aluminum beverage can market growth in the Iberian region, and our new plant will be ideally located to supply the increasing requirements of a number of key customers and support our other facilities during the conversion from steel to aluminum.”

Prodalim Group (Prodalim), one of the leading suppliers of juices, concentrates and multiunit blends, has entered into an agreement to acquire the Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) juice facility in Winter Garden, Florida.

The facility will allow Prodalim to sell and distribute its portfolio of juices, concentrates and compounds to North American clients. Upon closing, Prodalim will also provide storage, blending and tank loading services to LDC under a long term agreement.

The 27-acre facility is located near Orlando and it includes tank farms, cold storage rooms and a state of the art blending and compounding facility. The tank farm has a storage capacity of more than 12 million gallons / 60 thousand tons in addition to cold storage capacity of more than 15 thousand tons in drums.

Louis Dreyfus Company is a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods globally. The juice business has been a key pillar of its diverse portfolio for over 25 years, comprising farming, processing and logistics assets in more than seventy countries, with global sales reach for orange, apple, lemon and lime juices and byproducts. The core focus of the business is to produce quality juices to serve and partner with customers around the world.

This transaction is aligned with LDC’s ongoing business goals to focus on core business areas while expanding juice sales distribution. As one of the largest suppliers of orange juice in the world, and to North America in particular, LDC will continue to serve its customers across the region by offering a variety of fruit juices, sourced from different origins.