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| July 2nd, 2009 |
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| June 10th, 2009 |
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| April 30th, 2009 |
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| February 13th, 2009 |
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| February 6th, 2009 |
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| February 3rd, 2009 |
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Fire, FBI, Prices, Gellan
A fire has destroyed the production capability of a small agar producer in Chile.
Alfred L. Wolff and several executives have been charged with serious crimes in the USA.
There is price movement in several hydrocolloids particularly related to raw material supply and price. This is particularly felt in cellulosics and seaweed extracts.
Gellan gum sales seem to be taking off. There are more than 700 food labels declaring gellan gum as an ingredient. This from a search conducted on www.innovadatabase.com. A few samples of foods containing gellan gum are found in the labels section of this website.
More detail in the next issue of The Quarterly Review of Food Hydrocolloids.
Unilever's Ice-Structuring Protein
Unilever's Ice-Structuring Protein(ISP) has been approved in the EU. If and
when, its use becomes wide-spread in frozen dairy desserts, it will have little
impact on hydrocolloid consumption.
Hydrocolloid Pricing
There is no overall trend in hydrocolloid pricing. Some are up, some down and
some flat. Reluctance to sign supply contracts is waning with 3 month, 6 month
and in some cases multi-year contracts being signed. Each hydrocolloid has its
'quirks'. Xanthan is a good example:
Xanthan prices are on a three tier level with ascending prices as follows:
1) Made in China by Chinese Companies
2) Made in China by Western Companies
3) Made in the West by Western Companies.
There is a considerable spread between the lowest and highest priced xanthan.
Oilfield demand for several hydrocolloids is dramatically lower than last year,
but the impact on food grade prices has been limited.
PGA replacement is a hot topic for good reasons, discussed in the report.
Several replacers are already available with more in the pipeline.
IFT 2009, Annaheim Ca
The 2009 IFT Show in Anaheim, CA, was noticeably smaller and less splashy
than recent years. IFT organizers put attendance at approximately 13,000, well
below the 20,000 or more, of previous years. Monday was the busiest day with
attendance tailing off significantly on Tuesday. Award giving and achievement
recognition was spread over the opening session on Saturday and keynote speaker
session on Sunday. An abbreviation of such ceremonies would be a plus in future
years with more time allotted to keynote speakers perhaps.
Owing to the smaller size of the show, exhibitors were more accessible and
personnel more available for attendees walking the floor. On the other hand,
some exhibitors wistfully remembered the days of much larger shows when
trolleys were needed to bus attendees from one booth to another. In short:
reaction to the low numbers at the Anaheim IFT was very much dependant on
whether one was exhibiting or simply attending.
A few hydrocolloid giants were noticeable in their absence: CP Kelco, Danisco
and FMC, to name but a few. Only one gelatin producer, Gelita, was present,
although nearly 20 companies were listed as suppliers of gelatin. The Chinese
pavilion proffered all forms of hydrocolloids even if it was smaller than
previous years. Chinese booths offering all types of hydrocolloids were
abundant. Most Chinese suppliers were grouped in the Chinese pavilion, but some
ventured out with an independent booth in a separate area.
In general, exhibitors downsized from previous years, probably because of the
global recession. Some companies organized off-site events in lieu of
exhibiting; piggybacking on IFT's organization efforts.
Functional foods, fat replacements and fiber were all on display. There was not,
however, one overarching theme for 2009 as in previous years when no fat/low
fat, or fiber/fiber/fiber was the theme du jour. There was though, solid support
for existing hydrocolloid technology with a few novel advances here and there.
Gum Arabic replacement was offered in targeted applications; in some cases, even
by suppliers of gum Arabic. Fat replacement with cleaner label by starch
producers (native starch) have achieved remarkable equality in taste and texture
in dips for example. Some new suppliers of existing hydrocolloids were present
along with those seeking to enter new products eg. mustard seed gum. The 2010
IFT will be in Chicago, July 17-21. It will most likely attract a larger number
of attendees and exhibitors.
LBG Raw Material Situation
A field trip has been taken by IMR to Valencia. Valencia is the heart of carob
pod harvesting regions in Spain. A few brief points of information obtained from
local sources:
Talk of the Swine Flu is swirling worldwide. Much food gelatin is produced from pork skin. Preliminary indications from several interviews are, that there is no impact on gelatin manufacturing or sales. As a pre-emptive measure, gelatin producers have issued formal statements in an effort to allay any consumer concern arising from the current scare. The nation's $15 billion pork industry was adversely suffering from the misperception due to the term "Swine Flu." US officials have now abandoned the term "Swine Flu" for the title "H1N1 Virus."
Vikas Vibes
Vikas, the major guar producer, is in financial trouble. In the last IMR
profile of guar producers, Vikas, based in Sriganganagar, India, was ranked 3rd
largest with a capacity of 20,000 mtpa. Already in the late 1990's, stock
offerings by Vikas were raising questions in the financial world of India. A
recent article in the Economic Times of India dated March 31, 2009 gives public
notice that Vikas is in default on payments for a loan of INR (Indian Rupees)
658 million (approx. US $13.2 million at current exchange rates). Vikas is a
major producer of guar gum but stronger in oilfield and industrial applications
than in food. There has been no impact on food grade supply and/or the price of
food guar gum. Guar gum is one of the most cost effective hydrocolloids
available to food processors.
Brown Seaweed Availability
There is an abundant supply of brown seaweed (giant kelp, macrocystis pyrifera) on the California and Baja California coastline. In the past, most of this supply was harvested and used in the production of alginates at the FMC (previously ISP previously Kelco) facility in San Diego. Since the shutdown of the San Diego factory a few years ago, only a small fraction of the available kelp is harvested for grinding into abalone feed. There may be a possibility for harvesting the available excess.
Pectin Profile
Pectin is undoubtedly one of the favored hydrocolloids. It has shown above
average growth. Total pectin sales are estimated at over 40,000 tonnes per year
and a market value of nearly $500 million. CP Kelco is the largest producer by
far with 35-40% of the market. New producers have come on-stream but capacity
and demand is balanced. The label friendliness of pectin is an asset as valuable
as its multi-faceted functionality.
In the case of other hydrocolloids, prices have eased for some e.g. carrageenan
and LBG. Tightness continues in others such as sodium alginate and PGA. Xanthan
pricing is rebounding from its lows but in a two tiered manner.
All in all, the intricacies of hydrocolloid supply and demand continue. Attempts
to commoditize this industry are foiled by its complexity.
Taro Gum
Another new hydrocolloid discovery?
TARO GUM is declared on a Trader Joe's Cheesecake Label.
See a copy of the label declaring Taro Gum here:
Tarot Gum Label
No Taro(t) cards necessary to tell that there is a mistake in Labeling.
Danisco and Mingtai partnership
Danisco has signed a joint venture "strategic partnership" with Mingtai,
producer of MCC in Taiwan. Danisco will market colloidal grades of Mingtai MCC
to the food industry worldwide. Mingtai will continue marketing of colloidal and
powdered grades of MCC to pharmaceutical and other non-food applications.
This agreement adds another key hydrocolloid to the range already produced and
offered by Danisco, alginates, carrageenan, CMC, guar gum, LBG, pectin and
xanthan.
A copy of the full press release by Danisco is at:
Danisco-Mingtai press release
Other major producers of MCC are FMC, Asahi Kasei of Japan, J. Rettenmaier of
Germany, and Blanver of Brazil. There are sources of Chinese MCC but few sales
are made in colloidal MCC food applications.
FMC Alginate Re-orginization
FMC has announced a re-organization of its alginate production according to a
recent press release. Alginate production will now be consolidated at the
Haugesund plant in Norway. The Girvan plant in Scotland will no longer produce
alginates but will produce finished product blends.
The FMC Haugesund facility will be largest alginate production facility in the
western world. Cargill and Danisco each operate a relatively small alginate
production facility in France. All other production of alginates is either in
China, Japan or Chile. There is no PGA production in the western world. It is
only produced in China, Japan and Chile.
There is currently tightness in alginate supply mainly related to global
availability of brown seaweed used in alginate production
Health Ingredients Europe
The latest Health Ingredients Europe (HIE) trade show was held in Paris
November 4-6, 2008. In summary, the show was smaller than previous ones but
quality of contacts and business conducted was as good, if not better, than
previous HIE shows.
Exhibiting companies focused on health and nutrition more than in the past.
There were several hydrocolloid suppliers present but some of the giants were
notable in their absence eg. CP Kelco & FMC. Some exhibitors that produced
hydrocolloids AND nutritional and nutraceutical ingredients opted to focus on
the latter rather than hydrocolloids.eg. Cargill & Jungbunzlauer.
There was no major development in hydrocolloids identified at the HIE. Overall
the show was an excellent venue for renewing many hydrocolloid contacts and
making some new ones. A couple of hydrocolloid related events happened during
this period if not directly related to the HIE:
1) The US$4.8 billion acquisition of Corn Products
International (CPI) by Bunge is in question following a board meeting at CPI.
2) The designated calorific value of gum Arabic in
the USA has been reduced by more than 50%.
