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Olam Food Ingredients (Ofi) has added significant capacity to its dairy production facility in Johor, Malaysia, including an expansion of its dairy Ingredient Excellence Centre (IEC). The company has also commissioned a new milk powder dryer as well as expanding the integrated IEC, servicing customers across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. According to Ofi, enhancements to the Johor processing facility’s capabilities will more than double the production volume of functional dairy ingredients and fat filled milk powder made per year. This aims to enable Ofi’s customers to formulate innovative applications at scale. The expanded IEC has new laboratory spaces with state-of-the-art R&D equipment dedicated to supporting customers seeking a customisable, tailored and cost-efficient approach to application solutions in beverages, bakery and frozen dairy desserts. Sandeep Jain, managing director and CEO of dairy at Ofi, said that the demand for nutrition-rich, functional dairy ingredients continues to grow at pace, across the Middle East and Africa particulary. “Building on our strategy to provide localized, customized food and beverage products that will appeal to local customers, the expanded capabilities in Malaysia enable us to co-create products that are focused on health, taste and convenience,” Jain commented. “Furthermore, the expanded plant has been designed around food safety and operational excellence. This includes an automatic and ergonomic raw material feeding system and an advanced depalletising system, ensuring consistent product quality.” Through working in close collaboration with Ofi’s Singapore Customer Solutions Centre and integrated across its global network of 15 innovation centres, the IEC’s new capabilities will improve collaboration with brands, grocery retailers and foodservice companies.