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Symrise announces the opening of a new office and lab facility for Food & Beverage in Beijing. To optimally serve the dynamic and rapidly growing consumer base in the area the company has invested EUR 1.5 million in the facility. The location will enhance the R&D capabilities, customer proximity, and market presence in the North of China.

The country’s diverse and evolving tastes, driven by a rising middle class and increasing urbanisation, lead to stronger demand for beverages, dairy, culinary, and snacks. By expanding its presence in China, particularly with the new facility in Beijing, Symrise can perfectly cater to local preferences and swiftly respond to market trends.

The 800 sqm facility in Beijing covers 250 sqm of office space and 400 sqm of advanced laboratory areas as well as 150 sqm administration rooms. The labs include specialised zones for beverage and dairy creation, application, savory creation as well as snacks and seasonings, each equipped with dedicated workstations and evaluation rooms. This state-of-the-art setup enables Symrise to develop products tailored to the market. It can also provide comprehensive and swift support to customers in the region, ensuring timely and efficient service.

A key market for food & beverage applications

“China represents a crucial market for Symrise due to its dynamic and rapidly growing consumer base in food & beverage applications. As a logical consequence we have expanded our Beijing site to significantly enhance our R&D capabilities,” said Walter Ribeiro, Global President, Food & Beverage at Symrise. “With a focus on customer proximity and technical excellence, this facility will serve as a vital hub for innovation and customer collaboration.

The facility also adds further resources to the company’s main lab in Shanghai, ensuring continuous support and resource optimization. It offers an improved working environment for the team, with modern amenities and a design that balances flexibility, efficiency, and local cultural elements.

“This strategic positioning enhances our ability to innovate and introduce new products tailored to Chinese consumers,” adds Robert Marti, VP North Asia, Food & Beverage at Symrise. “It also strengthens our engagements with local food and beverage producers. As we continue to develop and optimise our offerings, both our customers and consumers will benefit from a broader range of high-quality products, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty in this key region.”

The Beijing office and lab underscore Symrise’s commitment to innovation, customer intimacy, and market expansion. With additional hires of technical experts, the company sees itself well-positioned to drive growth and deliver superior products across various categories. Symrise anticipates this facility will enhance its current offerings and open market opportunities, solidifying its presence in the Northern China and beyond.

With a joint investment of approximately EUR 29 million by Stora Enso and Tetra Pak, a new recycling line for post-consumer beverage cartons is starting operations in Poland. Stora Enso has invested approximately EUR 17 million into a new repulping line that will recover the carton fibers, and Tetra Pak along with Plastigram have invested a total of approximately EUR 12 million to build the new line. The line has the potential to triple the annual recycling capacity of beverage cartons in the country – from 25,000 to 75,000 tonnes – and provides scope to absorb the entire volume of beverage cartons sold in Poland, as well as additional volumes from neighbouring countries, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

Featuring an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes, the state-of-the-art line at Stora Enso’s production unit in Ostrołęka (Poland) handles solely beverage carton material separation, detaching fibres from polymers and aluminium. The fibres are then recycled into carton board materials, effectively contributing to material circularity by turning used paper-based packaging into new paper-based packaging materials. This new paper recycling facility is complemented by Czech company Plastigram Industries, that, together with Tetra Pak, is industrialising a solution to recycle polyAl1 into new products.

“For decades, we have been working to enhance beverage carton recycling capacity, co-investing with recyclers, technology providers and suppliers in new equipment and facilities” comments Lars Holmquist, EVP Sustainability & Communications at Tetra Pak. “In 2022, Tetra Pak contributed nearly €30 million to collection and recycling projects worldwide, with plans to go further and invest up to €40 million annually over the next years. As part of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), we support the industry ambition to increase the collection for recycling rate of beverage cartons to 90% and the recycling rate to 70%, in the EU, by 2030. I am very pleased to see that our collaboration with Stora Enso translates into one of the largest recycling hubs for beverage cartons in Europe, contributing to this ambition. This is also an excellent example of how systemic and collective actions can help keep quality renewable materials, like paper fibres, in the loop.”

“We are very pleased to see the results of our close cooperation with Tetra Pak, who, like Stora Enso, has the development of sustainable solutions at their core. This new modern solution marks a significant addition to European recycling capacity and a concrete step forward in the circularity of consumer packaging. In addition to complementing the current scope of our production site in Poland, the recycling facility will significantly contribute towards the recycling and waste reduction goals of the EU’s proposal for a Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation,” says Hannu Kasurinen, EVP Packaging Materials at Stora Enso.

The new line is set to ramp up recycling of beverage cartons throughout Central and Eastern Europe, signaling the beverage carton industry’s willingness to support the circularity goals of the proposed EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), and showcasing the pivotal role of recycling in helping the green transition of the food packaging sector. The packaging industry has already invested approximately EUR 200 million to increase the capacity for beverage carton recycling in the EU and plans to invest a further EUR 120 million by 2027.

1The non-fibre component of carton packages is known as polyAl, which designates the layers of polyolefins and aluminium being used as barrier against oxygen and humidity to protect the food content in aseptic carton packages.

Expert flavorists will enhance sweet and culinary capabilities with cutting-edge modulation technologies

IFF a global leader in solutions for food and beverages, health, biosciences, and scent has increased its innovation capabilities with two new state-of-the-art flavour labs at its facility in Northern Europe. The sweet and culinary flavour creation labs are the latest addition to the company’s expansive campus that has been in operation since 1964, spanning more than 312,150 square feet in Brabrand, Denmark.

The innovation hub is home to more than 400 employees engaged in research, application development, ingredient and flavour creation. The expanded facility will enable local and regional manufacturers to work in close partnership with a new team of flavourists who will introduce the latest modulation technologies and develop solutions for the beverage, bakery, dairy, snacks, culinary, bars and confectionery end markets. Working with an extensive library of proprietary flavor ingredients they will create exciting and unique flavour experiences for consumers, especially in areas such as masking, sweetness and umami.

“This expanded facility is a testament to our continued investment in innovation to meet evolving consumer expectations,” said Jan Bechtel, regional president of Nourish Europe, IFF. “We will continue to build on our deep expertise and scientific knowledge and invest in tools and products to bring what matters most to consumers in the market: creating the next generation of delicious, healthy and experiential food and beverages.”

Expert flavourists will have access to IFF’s latest research innovations, particularly in plant-based and biotechnology, along with resources like pilot plant manufacturing, ingredient expertise and evaluation studios, creating the perfect environment for end-to-end product design.

“We’re thrilled to launch these flavour labs,” said Laurens Reiber, creative director, Nourish Europe, IFF. “Brabrand is already a massive innovation center, and its location helps us better understand local market preferences and deliver trending global flavours. Now we’re investing further to boost our speed-to-market capabilities and to bring greater value to our partners.”

Following the completion of the Culinary Design Center last summer in Denmark, the opening of the new flavour labs is the company’s latest investment in R&D to develop winning solutions that meet customer and market needs with speed, agility and creativity.

Sidel has opened a new hub dedicated to PET recycling. At its unique small-scale PET recycling pilot line in Octeville, France, Sidel will develop its understanding of PET recycling with the aim of giving comprehensive support to the market as it switches to greater use of recycled PET.

Seeking carbon neutrality, the packaging industry is in the middle of a transition period that aims to replace virgin PET with recycled PET. Sidel is engaging with this transition to circular packaging solutions, enabling r-PET to be more widely used. The unique small-scale PET recycling line will allow Sidel to develop advanced knowledge about the recycling of food-contact PET bottles. As Sidel packaging experts assess the impact of additives and primary packaging materials on r-PET resin the facility will become an important reference for raw material producers, recyclers and recycling regulatory organisations. The line will also enable Sidel to further develop its own knowledge, ideas and innovative packaging solutions.

Helping to meet demand for r-PET

Demand for r-PET is increasing and the market is developing as brand owners seek carbon neutral solutions. The amount of recycled PET in packaging globally has increased to 8 % compared to 5 % in 2018. In Europe, the average is already 15 % and is projected to grow to 35 % in 2030.1

“There is a big move towards recycled PET, but demand is outstripping supply,” says Naima Boutroy, Sidel’s Global Packaging Expert. “The market still has a lot to learn and we can provide valuable insights. There is a variability in recycled PET resin grades, and standardisation is still in development. We need to address this to create the best possible finished bottles. Our line will test the recyclability of post-consumer PET bottles from different feed stocks, including additives and caps as well as labels, inks and glue. We will be working with traditional Sidel customers such as brand owners, converters and co-packers, as well as other suppliers like raw material producers, recyclers and regulatory organisations, to enable the scaling-up of r-PET capacity. We can also check any innovations comply with bottle-to-bottle recycling.”

Fully-equipped line to study entire process

Sidel’s new line will take raw material from industrial partners such as sorting facilities, recyclers and brand owners. It will then recreate and study all aspects of the process from bales to flakes including pellets ready to be injected into preform, injection and blow moulding.

Sidel will give the packaging industry the opportunity to access a fully equipped pilot line. This line covers every step of the recycling process: from washing, drying and pellet extrusion, to solid-state polymerisation, including dedicated process and laboratory controls at every step.

Making PET a more sustainable choice

PET is proven to be recyclable and is the only food-safe bottle-to-bottle recycled material, but the market has yet to see the production of standardised r-PET resin grade in high quantities; achieving this could facilitate the market conversion from virgin PET to r-PET. Lifecycle analysis shows that PET already has the best carbon footprint among materials currently available; creating a robust recycling loop to achieve full circularity at scale will make PET an even more sustainable choice.

Sidel to become one-stop shop for r-PET

Sidel’s investment in the r-PET pilot line is unparalleled in the packaging industry and will also empower Sidel in shaping the packaging solutions of tomorrow. The line, which has a holistic bottle-to-bottle approach, is just one of a range of services that Sidel is establishing under the name RePETable services. The services will draw upon Sidel’s 40+ years of blowing and packaging expertise, to support brand owners and convertors in producing r-PET bottles through line upgrade solutions, packaging optimisation, blowing process qualification, troubleshooting, r-PET processing training.

 

Science and business join forces in Brazil to accelerate innovation in food by focusing on the sustainable use of LATAM’s biodiversity and affordable nutrition for consumers

Three leading global companies, Givaudan, Bühler, and Cargill, have formed a consortium in collaboration with the FoodTech HUB Latam and ITAL, Food Technology Institute, to build a food innovation centre in the city of Campinas, recognised as Brazil’s tech powerhouse. The “Tropical Food Innovation Lab” will be located at the Food Technology Institute, ITAL, in a fully refurbished, 1,300 square metre area.

This new hub will be the go-to place in Latin America to connect and develop sustainable, future food and beverage products. Start-ups, companies, investors, universities and research institutions will have direct access to high-end technologies for rapid prototyping and plugging into the global food tech ecosystem that will foster fast-paced innovation in the food and beverage sector.

The most current generation of wet and dry extrusion systems for plant-based proteins, as well as beverages processing units will add complementary capabilities to the existing facilities of ITAL. When complete, the facility will feature new application labs and a state of the art demo kitchen, where consumers, food scientists, nutritionists, chefs, mixologists and marketers, among other professionals, will work together to create sustainable new products.

In a world facing major challenges from climate change, combined with a population expected to exceed 9.5 billion people by 2050, it is essential for the food industry to take positive action and work towards a regenerative and equitable food system that and provides healthy, safe and nutritious food for all, while staying within the planetary boundaries.

Brazil has the richest plant biodiversity on the planet, distributed in six major biomes and is one of the world’s main food producers. Yet immense potential remains, with regards to healthy and sustainable products, novel food and food waste reduction, contributing to Food Systems Transformation.

The Tropical Food Innovation Lab is planned to open in Q1 2023.

Strengthened organization will focus on R&D project pipeline growth in ingredient and process development

DuPont Nutrition & Health announced it is expanding its R&D team by creating a “clean label hub” at the Brabrand facility. Intending to boost its project pipeline in healthy nutrition and clean label texturant offerings, six new employees will join the existing team to focus on both ingredient and process development.

The hub will feature experts with backgrounds in clean label and sustainability – two fields that often work together and serve related purposes. Working closely with existing project teams, the hub will bring products to market quickly and help grow the existing project pipeline.

“Clean label is about creating foods and beverages with ingredients that consumers recognize, feel good about putting into their bodies, and that respect the Earth and its resources,” said Gerard Lynch, R&D Leader, Systems & Texturants, Emulsifiers & Sweeteners. “Our ingredients are already used in many applications that consumers consider clean label, but there are tremendous opportunities to innovate – creating ingredients that are even more sustainable, using a larger part of the natural raw materials, while providing health benefits to consumers. Committing to this innovation is critical for our ongoing success and growth.”

With the ability to utilize the broadest capabilities in terms of natural raw materials access, processing, across fruits, vegetables, seaweeds and nutritional science, DuPont Nutrition & Health has huge potential to develop functional ingredients that meet consumer expectations.

The hub will help customers continue to navigate clean label trends in a proactive and sustainable way. DuPont Nutrition & Health is seeking creative scientists and engineers to identify ways to convert sustainable and natural raw materials into clean label solutions that meet consumer demands for simplicity and authenticity, all without compromising taste, texture and nutritional qualities.

Planned to be in place by early 2019, the clean label texturants team will have the opportunity to tackle exciting projects to provide texture and stability for multiple food applications.