Döhler announces the expansion of its Paarl manufacturing facility, marking a significant advancement in its operations within the African market. By enhancing product availability and customising offerings, Döhler deepens its partnerships with local customers and positions itself at the forefront of the food, beverage and life science and nutrition industry in the region.

The expansion of Döhler South Africa’s plant in Paarl introduces new, state-of-the-art production lines for compounds and emulsions as well as powdered and liquid flavours. In addition, it substantially increases the company’s capability for processing bulk juice concentrate. From now on, customers will have direct access to the complete portfolio of compounds, which shows Döhler’s commitment to being at the forefront of the food, beverage and life science and nutrition industry in the region.

2024 promises to be a groundbreaking year for Döhler South Africa following notable achievements and the establishment of strategic partnerships in the last year. The Paarl plant expansion sets the stage for future advancements. The addition of cutting-edge production lines and state-of-the-art R&D labs will further strengthen Döhler’s ability to deliver high-quality products and product solutions directly to the African market.

The expansion of Döhler’s plant in Paarl was officially inaugurated in May with a ceremony attended by prominent industry figures, the Drakenstein Executive Mayor and the Consul General of the German Consulate, emphasizing Döhler’s commitment to deepen its engagement with the African food, beverage and life science and nutrition industry.

August 19th. marked a year since the launch of the Government’s Childhood obesity: a plan for action, and the announcement of a Soft Drinks Industry Levy.

Coming into effect from April 2018, the levy targets the only category in the food and drink sector which has consistently reduced sugar intake in recent years.

Gavin Partington, Director General at the British Soft Drinks Association, comments:

“The soft drinks industry has led the way in calorie reduction initiatives for many years, helping consumers to cut their sugar intake from soft drinks by 17 % since 2013.
“In 2015 we became the only category to set a calorie reduction target of 20 % by 2020, as well as voluntarily agreeing not to advertise regular soft drinks to children under 16 – a year ahead of the CAP code revision.”

Next Steps

Public Health England (PHE) marked the anniversary by announcing the next stage of the Childhood Obesity Plan, highlighting a move to focus on calorie reduction.

PHE will consider the evidence on children’s calorie consumption and set the ambition for the calorie reduction programme to remove excess calories from the foods children consume the most.

Ready meals, pizzas, burgers, savoury snacks and sandwiches are the product categories likely to be included in the programme.

Gavin Partington comments:

“We all have a role to play in helping to tackle obesity and we hope our actions on sugar reduction, portion size and promotion of low and no calorie products set an example for the wider food sector.”