During my two-day visit, I was delighted to catch up with many friends (old and new) in the industry and find out what was hot, in particular in the areas of fibre, protein, salt reduction and beverages.
Fresh from its news of the purchase of Fortitech earlier in the month, DSM was demonstrating a wealth of innovation, including its recently introduced enzyme solution for consumers to take if they are lactose-intolerant. I was keen to hear about this having been told that I was lactose-intolerant myself. Tolerase L is an acid lactase that can be taken with meals to help consumers convert lactose into glucose and galactose.
Wouter Nieboer, global business manager human nutrition and health, not only pointed out that uptake for Tolerase L has been one of the fastest for any product for DSM (thanks to its low cost in use coupled with a high consumer understanding of the issue), he was also able to reassure me that, from my symptoms, I was not lactose intolerant! A very valuable visit all round.
Of course, I whizzed round to see friends Richard Schlief and Patrick Morris at Fortitech to get the lowdown on the DSM tie-up. And, of course, they could not comment other than to make some vague noises that might have echoed Wouter’s comments: “It’s an interesting acquisition that can only strengthen our offerings to our customers.”
Well, what did I expect?
From expected to unexpected and the samples on the Fortitech stand. I was a SnapCap virgin when I approached the stand, having seen in photos the wonders of quick-release fortification into beverages, but not having tried it myself. The delivery is quick and effective.
Other samples included riotous burst-in-the-mouth fortified, cherry-flavoured bursting bits. The crackling noise in my mouth made me laugh out loud, but the message was serious. The bursting bits are fortified with no end of wonderful goodies, including vitamins and minerals, therefore making a fun vehicle for kids’ nutrition.
Nexira and Tournay Biotechnologies were also keeping quiet about the future for their two companies following the announcement of Nexira’s move on Tournay to boost its healthy natural offerings. I had a quick chat with Mathieu Dondain at Nexira and David Tournay and look forward to discovering more in the months ahead.
I met the team at Wacker Biosolutions for the first time and had fascinating conversations about its range of cyclodextrins, and said hello to Paul O’Mahony and Clare Commins at Glanbia, where I found out more about protein among other things.
I discussed salt reduction with Tate & Lyle (congratulations to them for winning this year’s top prize for innovation at Hi Europe for Soda-Lo) and Nu-Tek, which had me taste delicious sausages and bread sticks made with its potassium chloride option – very interesting developments.
I talked hot fibre solutions with Kampffmeyer and JRS, and discovered a great deal about protein and some superb innovations in this area with experts at Beneo (what an attractive and verdant stand met visitors as they entered the hall in Frankfurt), DuPont, ADM, DMV, and Roquette, plus Roquette’s new joint venture company Solazyme Roquette Nutritionals.
Beverages were the highlights of my discussions with Mantrose, Nutrineo (the newly named health division of Uelzena), and Plantextrakt.
For more on my travels around the stands in Frankfurt and more in-depth information on the formulation solutions I discovered, please note that there is a special focus on fibre and proteins in Food & Beverage International, a review of activities at Hi Europe in Beverage Innovation, a spotlight on salt reduction in Dairy Innovation and more in future issues of the FoodBev Media publications.
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