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.
Just a few years ago, Krones’ subsidiary Steinecker opened a technology center in Freising (GER) where customers can create and test recipes for beer and plant-based drinks. Now, the group is setting another important milestone in the evolution of beverages and processes. In early May, at the company’s headquarters in Neutraubling (GER), a fully-equipped R&D lab was officially inaugurated and dubbed the “Process Technology Center”.
The new Process Technology Center is designed to support Krones customers in their product development processes and meet the flavour demands of the global markets. It makes no difference whether the customer already has a finished recipe for a future product or is still at the start of the product development journey and would like to leverage Krones’ expertise for those first steps.
Krones itself will use the new technology center to more closely analyse the effects of various process parameters on different products. The results will then go into further developing and refining Krones machines and lines.
Expertise for process technology and water design
The technology center is divided into two sections: process technology and water design.
On the process technology side, various process and treatment steps can be realistically simulated on a pilot UHT system. That makes it possible, for example, to compare the thermal impact of indirect heating using a shell-and-tube heat exchanger versus direct heating. For this, customers can choose between two processes: steam injection and steam infusion. For other trials, the facility is also equipped with systems for mixing, flash pasteurisation, deaeration, homogenisation and filling. The results are then evaluated in-house, for example in Krones’ own microbiological and chemical testing labs.
Optimising the flavour profile of water
In the field of water design, customers can fine-tune the flavour of their water by adding just the right amounts of minerals and flavour compounds. The technological possibilities include deaeration, carbonation, electrodeionisation, ionisation, mineral dosing and filling.
A water sommelier provides support throughout the trials. Customers also have access to Krones’ extensive network of experts, with engineers in a variety of disciplines, including food and process engineering, to collaborate on transforming product ideas into real products.
Combined product portfolio and manufacturing capabilities create unique botanical platform in North America
The Martin Bauer Group is excited to announce the acquisition of BI Nutraceuticals, a leading full-service manufacturer and supplier of plant-based ingredients in the United States. The acquisition creates an extensive portfolio of botanical ingredients and a versatile manufacturing hub servicing the U.S. Tea, Beverage, Food and Dietary Supplements industries.
The investment in BI Nutraceuticals will build on Martin Bauer Group’s local capabilities including R&D, formulations and manufacturing, in support of the Group’s strategy to foster accelerated growth in North America. A distinction of Martin Bauer Group’s portfolio is the responsible and vastly diversified sourcing of raw materials, with quality standards and controls in place starting at source and continuing throughout the procurement and manufacturing processes. “The addition of BI Nutraceuticals to our Group buttresses our commitment to reliable, quality, safe and clean label raw materials, meeting an increasing demand from our customers and consumers,” stated Ennio Ranaboldo, CEO of Martin Bauer Group in North America. The two companies will continue to operate independently, and further communications will be issued to ensure seamless integration both internally and for all customers.
“We are thrilled to be a part of the nature network® and the Martin Bauer Group,” said George Pontiakos, President and CEO of BI Nutraceuticals. “This represents a significant move forward for us and our combined customer base. The Martin Bauer Group is a family-owned international company with a long history as a manufacturer and supplier of teas, extracts and botanical products going back more than 135 years. BI Nutraceuticals will now have access to the global resources of the Martin Bauer Group in the areas of raw materials sourcing, processing technology, liquid extract production and research and development. As part of the Martin Bauer Group, we become a true single source solution provider. Our customers can be even more confident in our long-standing commitment to safety, quality, service and innovation.”
This latest expansion follows a recent announcement of a major investment in Milwaukee to create a new Natural Colors site in the US, including expanded laboratory and production capabilities.
Chr. Hansen Natural Colors purchased the site in Montpellier 18 years ago. Since then, the site has grown to become the company’s main R&D center for natural colors & coloring foodstuffs.
The expansion and upgrade of the facilities will start as soon as September 2018, with the full new building and site upgrade finalized by November 2019.
The building capacity will house additional employees on site and the laboratory space will be more than double what it is today. The new building will include a modern show room for welcoming customers – both for training or development work in the laboratories.
The Technical Workshop has become an annual tradition for everybody working in technical fields in the juice industry, from quality managers to R&D people to staff working in the laboratory. With very low registration fees, compared to “regular” conferences in the industry, it should also give the employees that normally don`t go to conferences the chance to learn about new developments, discuss relevant topics and establish networking with fellow col- leagues.
The IFU Technical Workshop 2018 will be held on Monday, March 19th, in Cologne – just one day before Anuga FoodTec.
