Mealworm Production Plant in Advances, New Ingredients, and More

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Mealworm Ingredient Plant Advances

While the alternative proteins market has so far been dominated by the plant-based sector, insects may offer advantages. Yellow mealworms—which have been recognized as safe for human consumption by the European Commission—provide a complete protein source with all the essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. At the same time, commercial insect farming is considered to have a low environmental footprint, requiring minimal water, energy, and land resources. It also supports circular food systems, with insect bioconversion potentially allowing for about a third of the European Union’s annual food waste to be safely upcycled.

Lithuanian insect producer Divaks selected the Swiss technology group Bühler to build its first commercial-scale yellow mealworm plant. Scheduled to go into operation in 2025, the plant will produce up to 15,000 metric tons of sustainable insect-derived products annually. In the new plant, Divaks will produce yellow mealworm that can be used in applications including meat alternatives, sports nutrition products, snacks, and confectionery as well as premium pet food. Bühler will be responsible for all process technology and will provide the processing line to transform the harvested larvae into textured insect proteins, insect protein concentrates, and other specialized food ingredients.

RESEARCH

Microbiota and Mood

Two out of three consumers across the globe see the importance of their gut on mood, saying that their digestive health has an influence on their mental well-being and stress levels. A recent study showed that prebiotic dietary fiber oligofructose alone, or in combination with the human milk oligosaccharide 2’fucosyllactose, promoted a significant increase in bifidobacteria in the gut and could result in substantial improvements in mood in healthy adults with mild to moderate feelings of anxiety and depression, chicory root fiber supplier BENEO reports.

COMMUNITY

Remembering Eliot Carmi

Eliot Carmi, president and chief executive officer of Carmi Flavor & Fragrance Co., passed away on Nov. 15, 2023, at the age of 71. He was known by his colleagues as an energetic leader who traveled the world to connect with people in the food and beverage industry.

Carmi and his father started Carmi Flavors together in California in 1979, and the company became an industry leader in supplying custom flavors and fragrances. Carmi took over the company following his father’s passing in 2001. During his 45 years in the industry, Carmi valued client relationships and the ability to provide personal service to customers.

He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Cristina, and their five sons, Daniel, Jeffrey, Jason, Eric, and Matthew; grandsons, Ryan and Noah; and sister, Leora Simek.

NEW PRODUCTS

ICL Food Specialties and Plantible Foods, a vertically integrated biology platform and RuBisCO ingredient producer, launched a clean label binding solution for plant-based meat and seafood applications. ROVITARIS Binding Solution is powered by plant-based Rubi Protein, derived from sustainably grown Lemna. This new functional protein system can replace most chemically processed binders in plant-based meat and seafood formulations. The launch is part of a multi-year commercial agreement between Plantible and ICL to introduce one of the first RuBisCO-enabled ingredients into food systems.

EPI Ingredients developed a new, extra-sour yogurt powder ideal for products offering functional, nutritional, and organoleptic benefits, with no need for refrigeration. Rather than achieving acidity with citric acid, the company uses bacteria for fermentation, providing what it describes as “natural” acidity. The yogurt powder can be used in fillings and icings for biscuits, drinks, ice creams, sauces, savory products, and more.

Kerry introduced Biobake Fresh Rich, an enzyme solution for sweet baked goods that delivers longer-lasting softness, freshness, and moistness perception over shelf life. This new, clean label, starch-acting enzyme enables sweet baked goods containing more than 20% sugar to remain fresher for a longer period of time, significantly reducing food waste. It is designed to create a softer, more consistent, and more flexible crumb structure, with improved perceived moistness.

GEA’s new industrial fryer, ProFry, is designed for high-quality fried foods like meat, fish, vegetables, poultry, and especially tempura, focusing on sensitive areas in the production process and setting new technology standards with its patented oil circulation and conditioning system. The new fryer puts data transparency and traceability at the forefront. It automatically collects data from within the machine and establishes the precise oil condition at any moment, replacing the need for manual sampling. In addition, it alerts the operator to any divergence from optimum levels, and allows adjustments to be made inline without stopping the machine.

GELITA’s new PeptENDURE collagen peptides are designed to improve endurance performance. As PeptENDURE creates long-term adaptive change in the muscles, it is suitable for those partaking in a range of endurance disciplines.

Royal Avebe launched PerfectaSOL, which it describes as a next-generation potato protein product. One of the key highlights of PerfectaSOL is its ability to create consumer products with exceptional texture. Beyond replicating existing animal-based products, PerfectaSOL opens up opportunities for plant-based consumer product innovation.

Food tech startup SolvEat created a new bioactive solution designed to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels when used as part of a regular diet. The patent-pending herbal solution is a composition of eight different herbs, including golden thread (Coptis chinensis), Chinese foxglove (Rehmannia glutinosa), and hawthorn berries (Crataegus pinnatifida), which work together to support balanced blood sugar levels. SolvEat collaborated with a chocolate company to develop a chocolate bar prototype as a first proof of concept.

INDUSTRY UPDATE

LBB Specialties announced a new partnership with Viscofan DE. LBB Specialties will be Viscofan’s preferred partner in the United States for its portfolio of premium collagen hydrolysates, including COLLinstant and COLLinstant LMW.

Armada Nutrition, a leading contract manufacturer of high-quality nutritional powders, announced that it has changed its name to Prinova Nagase Group effective January 1, 2024, to align with the name of its parent company. The name change will incorporate contract manufacturing of nutritional powders added to the capabilities marketed under the Prinova brand globally, alongside ingredient distribution, premix manufacturing, and flavor manufacturing. The company’s leadership and ownership will remain unchanged. With this shift, Prinova hopes to push the envelope in terms of what powder ready-to-mix brands expect from their contract manufacturer.

Kalsec is expanding its existing footprint on the European continent with the opening of its Savoury Product Innovation Centre of Excellence (SPICE Lab) in Wageningen, the Netherlands. This new facility will demonstrate Kalsec’s leadership in developing taste and sensory solutions derived from nature, with an emphasis on sauces, dressings, and condiment applications.

In addition, Kalsec has opened a new Finishing and Distribution Centre in Singapore, part of the company’s plan to diversify its production locations and further extend customer reach. During the past year, Kalsec has also announced new agreements with channel partners to expand distribution in Colombia, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands as well as its hops solutions throughout the United States.

Bell Flavors & Fragrances’ Fragrance Division debuted its new Fragrance Creative Center, strategically located at its manufacturing plant in Middletown, N.Y. This satellite Creative Center serves as an extension to its counterpart located at the company’s headquarters in Northbrook, Ill., and further adds to its Creative Centers globally. Bell’s scope includes the company’s 11 collective manufacturing plants and sales offices spanning four continents.

Jenn Farrell has joined Columbus Vegetable Oils, a supplier of high-quality oils, shortenings, sauces, and dressings, as director of research & development and quality.

IFF opened its first dedicated food and beverage lab in Gangnam, Seoul, South Korea. The new co-creation center will support beverage, culinary, snack, and dairy manufacturers with greater speed-to-market through insights-led innovation. The center features dedicated customer co-creation design spaces and a dairy and beverage ultra-high-temperature pilot plant for small-scale product pilot testing. It also houses a professional culinary kitchen, where IFF’s team will develop savory seasoning solutions for instant noodles, snacks, and local sauces.

Ingredion announced the expansion of PureCircle by Ingredion’s stevia production facility in Malaysia, further extending its position as the largest-scale operator for stevia ingredients from bioconversion. This expansion grows PureCircle’s bioconversion technology capacity, supporting four times the current capacity for these ingredients.

TurtleTree attained the first-ever self-affirmed generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status for its complex functional protein—precision fermentation–derived lactoferrin, LF+. This development paves the way for TurtleTree to commercialize in the United States. With LF+, TurtleTree has tackled the challenge of scaling the production of lactoferrin via precision fermentation, enabling it to address the global shortage of lactoferrin as well as meet the demand of new customers, who were previously unable to access the protein because of high costs and supply issues. This includes fortifying adult nutrition products such as protein powders, functional beverages, meal replacement alternatives for the elderly, and multivitamins, as well as supplementing plant-based dairy products.

Millbo announced its presence in North America with the opening of Millbio North America, headquartered in Rochelle Park, N.J. With the new East Coast location, the company has greatly expanded its sales and customer support team to promote its continued growth and business development in the Americas. Millbio will focus on promoting its unique ingredients such as fermented/cultured flours and novel plant-based extracts, which are perfectly situated to address the growing demand for clean label shelf-life extension and preservation.

ofi (Olam Food Ingredients) celebrated the official opening of the first phase of its new, state-of-the-art dairy processing plant located in the dairy heartland of New Zealand, the Waikato region in the North Island of the country. The facility will produce dairy ingredients like whole milk powder.ft

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