Functional foods and drinks

DSM profits rise 27% but nutrition space ‘sluggish’ as omega-3 bites

05-Nov-2013 By Shane STARLING

DSM has delivered a Q3 increase in EBITDA earnings of 27% across all its divisions despite “headwinds” like the ongoing economic flatline in Europe and elsewhere, challenging currency movements and rising ingredient costs.

Ceasefire declared in lycopene IP war as LycoRed and Parry settle patent infringement case

04-Nov-2013 By Elaine WATSON

LycoRed and EID Parry have agreed to settle a patent dispute over tomato lycopene products and manufacturing processes after 18 months of legal wrangling.

EID Parry settles with LycoRed following patent infringement suit

04-Nov-2013

LycoRed has now reached a settlement with Indian firm EID Parry after the carotenoids supplier filed for patent infringement in March last year over its tomato lycopene products and related manufacturing processes.

Fearing Western bans, TCM industry now seeking to align standards

23-Oct-2013 By RJ Whitehead

In the wake of some Western countries like Britain capping sales of traditional medicine imports from China, the country is now ramping up efforts to standardise production in the segment.

Special Edition: Brain-boosting ingredients

Global brain health market pushing $2bn mark as Asia and supplements shine

22-Oct-2013 By Shane Starling

Sales of brain health boosting food supplements like omega-3s, the B vitamin group, vitamin C and phosphatidylserine are driving the category toward sales of €2bn globally, even as brain-boosting foods and beverages have endured a flat period.

Benecol arrives in the Philippines

22-Oct-2013

Raisio’s Benecol partner, Kalbe International, has launched Benecol smoothies on the Philippine market.

Stevia Corp. inks deal with Korean food ingredients maker

17-Oct-2013 By Ankush Chibber

With its eye firmly on the Korean food market, US-based sweetener major Stevia Corp. has inked a memorandum of understanding with Taekyung Nongsan, the Korean food ingredients manufacturer, to grow its business in the peninsula.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AT GLANBIA'S KILKENNY PLANT

Glanbia: We’re gearing up to meet ‘unrelenting’ Asian dairy demand

04-Oct-2013 By Fiona Barry

Irish dairy giant Glanbia has pinpointed infant formula-hungry Asia as “a key market” as it continues its preparations for the abolition of the European Union (EU) milk quotas.

Nestlé lodges patent for lactoferrin diarrhoea supplement

30-Sep-2013 By Shane Starling

Diarrhoea can be reduced via supplementation with milk protein, lactoferrin, according to a Nestlé patent published this month by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

French health claims consultancy wins government backing in South Korea

25-Sep-2013

French health claims consultancy and contract research organisation (CRO) Nutraveris has returned from a trip to South Korea where it participated in a French government trade mission.

Live from the 20th International Congress of Nutrition

Prof: 'GI can be more powerful obesity-fighting tool in Asia than the west'

20-Sep-2013 By Shane Starling in Granada, Spain

Prebiotics and other fibres have a big role to play in curbing spiraling obesity, diabetic and pre-diabetic rates in emerging economies like India and China, according to one respected nutrition academic here at the ICN in Granada.

Two studies hail resveratrol type 2 diabetes potential

18-Sep-2013 By Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn

Supplemental resveratrol should be considered as an adjunct to standard anti-diabetic agents in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, according to two studies conducted at the University of Medical Sciences in Iran and JSS University in India.

Thailand's stevia approval poses challenge for Indonesian regulators

16-Sep-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Now Thailand has been given approval to use stevia in food and beverages, Indonesia is the only Southeast Asian nation waiting for the authorities to give the regulatory go-ahead for the natural sweetener.

Showfloor blog: FI Asia-Thailand

Supply chain shocks driving Asian food producers to western quality

13-Sep-2013 By Shane Starling in Bangkok

The non-Asian ingredient supply sector is fairly well represented here at Food Ingredients Asia-Thailand in Bangkok, but given current concerns about food supply chain security in the region, is probably still under-represented. Which is surprising…

Fi Asia-Thailand

Doing business in Asia: CP Kelco’s all-in hub approach

12-Sep-2013 By RJ Whitehead

With more and more global companies staking a claim in Asia’s growing countries, we have been looking at the directions some of the major players have taken to make the most of these new markets.

SOLD! GSK exits drinks market

Glaxo sells Lucozade and Ribena to Suntory for £1.35bn cash

09-Sep-2013 By Shane STARLING

Ever-expanding Japanese beverage behemoth, Suntory, is the new owner of Lucozade and Ribena, which GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has sold for £1.35bn (€1.6bn/$2.11bn) as it admits defeat in its internationalisation plans and trains its focus on its pharma activities.

Pea protein boom drives Cosucra plant expansion

06-Sep-2013 By Shane Starling

Belgian pea protein player Cosucra is investing €30m to build a ‘second line’ at its processing facility as European and North American demand rockets.

Big brand sale

UPDATE: Suntory will buy Lucozade and Ribena for ‘sum close to £1bn’; brands won’t work in Asia, says analyst

06-Sep-2013 By Shane Starling & Ben Bouckley

Sources close to GlaxoSmithKline have confirmed that the sale of its iconic Lucozade and Ribena brands to expanding Japanese beverage giant, Suntory, will proceed for a sum closer to initial estimations of £1bn (€1.18bn/$1.55bn), but an industry analyst...

Vitafoods Asia

Chr Hansen: While EU regulations are tough, Asia's are a minefield

04-Sep-2013 By RJ Whitehead

On a day when its headquarters in Copenhagen announced a significant overhaul of a number of its core businesses, Chr Hansen’s vice-president of health and nutrition sales highlighted the regulatory difficulties companies face when doing business in Asia.

Big changes at Chr Hansen

Nature lover: Chr Hansen plays natural card in 6-platform reinvention

04-Sep-2013 By Shane STARLING

Danish ingredients giant Chr Hansen has today rebranded itself ‘Nature’s Number 1’ as it announced a 6-platform strategic overhaul of its colours, enzymes and cultures businesses.

Mulberry leaf extract shows blood sugar management potential: Human data

04-Sep-2013 By Stephen DANIELLS

Daily ingestion of a mulberry leaf extract may lower blood sugar spikes after eating and help reduce the risk of diabetes, suggests data from a randomized clinical trial with 50 healthy people.

Ceylon cinnamon making weight loss progress for French start-up

02-Sep-2013 By Shane STARLING

French start-up supplier Dialpha Laboratories is gaining success with Ceylon cinnamon extracts promoting weight loss after just a few months on the market.

Special report

Double-digit nutraceutical growth highlights India’s economy of scale

29-Aug-2013 By Raynah Coutinho in Mumbai

Indian nutraceutical companies have been watching a nascent industry mature over the last couple of years, and now recently released figures have backed up the boom.

China launches anti-dumping probe into Indian preservative imports

23-Aug-2013 By Ankush Chibber

China's Ministry of Commerce will launch an investigation into Indian imports of tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a preservative that is widely used in the food industry.

Interview: Prof Suhaila Mohamed, Universiti Putra Malaysia

Malaysia’s herbal leadership the result of government support

20-Aug-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Government financing and promotion of herbal ingredients research has helped Malaysia to become one of the world leaders in the field, according to one of the country’s pre-eminent researchers.

India’s regulator issues new draft standards for infant nutrition

19-Aug-2013 By Ankush Chibber

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed new standards for infant nutrition, substitute foods, fortified atta (flour) and ingredients as part of a wide overhaul of its standards.

Emerging market healthy food 'faux pas': Too much pleasure, too soon

14-Aug-2013 By Shane STARLING

“The most common mistake by western fast moving consumer good (FMCG) companies who launch new food and beverage brands in emerging markets is that they jump straight in to a Pleasure position with their brands.”

Whey concentrate prices double in two years

Chinese demand drives whey above €7/kg – but is it over priced?

13-Aug-2013 By Shane STARLING

Soaring whey prices are changing the face of the protein concentrate market, but hefty Asian-driven premiums won’t signal a flood to plant proteins, says an analyst.

Melinjo Resveratrol launching in markets outside Japan

13-Aug-2013

Japanese nutrient ingredients company Hosoda will now sell its Melinjo Resveratrol line internationally. The product, which is produced at Hosoda’s new extraction plant in Java, has been available on the market in Japan for several years, and will now...

GSK scandal should prompt China to reflect on wider pharma corruption

30-Jul-2013 By William Hao Wei Yang

As a new head of operations works out how best to guide GlaxoSmithKline’s China operation through a bribery scandal that has hit the world's headlines, industry watchers have have said the company is just the tip of the iceberg in a pharmaceutical...

China gives patent to AB-Fortis iron functional ingredient

30-Jul-2013

Spanish biotech company AB-Biotics has been granted a patent by the China Patent & Trademark Office for its AB-Fortis functional ingredient.

Beijing plant is DuPont’s first step in ready-to-market probiotics

16-Jul-2013 By RJ Whitehead

In 2011, DuPont bought a food processing plant to the north of Beijing and straight away began to convert it into a blending and packaging site for its dietary supplements.

Aroma ingredients

Solvay to bring vanillin manufacturing to Zhenjiang

04-Jul-2013 By RJ Whitehead

International chemical group Solvay is the latest aromas company to choose China to produce its ingredients.

Liquid breakfast row: Reaction

Industry hits back at criticism of Australian liquid breakfast claims

27-Jun-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Manufacturers and industry groups have slammed an Australian consumer watchdog’s assertion that nutritional claims on the packs of some liquid breakfasts are “shonky”.

Consumer group outs ‘shonky’ Aussie liquid breakfast brands

25-Jun-2013 By RJ Whitehead

An Australian consumer rights watchdog has branded liquid breakfasts’ nutritional claims as “dodgy” and “shonky” following an investigation into 23 brands.

Snapshot: China

Dirty ingredients prompt more Chinese to opt for clean labels

24-Jun-2013 By RJ Whitehead

It is no coincidence that China is leading the way across the Asia-Pacific region by moving towards natural foods. With the country’s industry sullied by an ever-evolving tale of lax food safety standards - with the will to improve in this department...

Sucralose eco-production process given green light in China

24-Jun-2013 By RJ Whitehead

A Chinese company is preparing to debut a brand new environmental process that helps break down harmful byproducts from the sucralose production process.

Australian monopoly regulator says no to Heinz baby food takeover

06-Jun-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Heinz’s proposed acquisition of Rafferty’s Garden looks to have been crushed after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission vowed to oppose the move.

Naturex CEO talks HQ expansion, green credentials and the memory of Jacques Dikansky

06-Jun-2013 By Shane STARLING

Naturex hosted 500 of its employees and guests the weekend just passed as it inaugurated a €12m expansion of its Avignon HQ in southern France. We caught up with CEO Thierry Lambert who said further expansion at its other global sites was very much on...

Nutrition groups honours DSM’s China outfit for promoting science

23-May-2013 By RJ Whitehead

The Chinese Nutritional Society has awarded the China operation of food science major DSM its first ever Nutrition Innovation Gold Award.

Biova egg membranes get preferred distributor for Japan and Tawan

20-May-2013

Biova, the water soluble egg membrane supplier, has finalised an agreement with Maypro Industries to be its preferred distributor of its ingredient portfolio in Japan and Taiwan.

Probiotics

BioGaia signs new distribution channels in the Far East

13-May-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Probiotic developer BioGaia has signed two major agreements to give the exclusive rights to its ProTectis baby drops and ProTectis and Gastrus tablets through retail pharmacy channels in China and South Korea.