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MC Mühlenchemie (MC), a solutions provider for flour millers and producers, is opening a third location in Africa, which includes laboratories and a technology centre. Located in Randburg near Johannesburg, South Africa, the new Stern Ingredients South Africa subsidiary provides the capacity to develop and manufacture individual system solutions for improving, standardising and fortifying flours and baked goods. This new location – along with its existing ones in Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya – will enable MC to perform all aspects of the value-added chain in flour improvement and fortification on-site, including sourcing, rheology and analytics, as well as application development and production for African mills and bakers. The site has 400 square metres of space, plus the equipment for flour and grain analysis. According to the company, the trial bakery allows processes to be simulated and enzymes and other ingredients to be tested. Stern Ingredients South Africa has established a training and education centre at the location in order to improve collaboration with mills and bakeries and to facilitate technology transfer. MC's area sales manager for the South African market, Jannes Peemoeller, will lead the subsidiary and build a team of experts in technology, consulting and production in Johannesburg. In addition, they intend to maintain close contact with the MC location in Nigeria, with its baking technology facility and the site in Kenya, which also provides a rheology and analysis lab. Peter Steiner, global head of business unit for MC, said: “The growing population and rising prosperity in Africa place high demands on food production. The dynamism and diversity of the continent, and the volatility of global raw materials markets, call for individual and flexible solutions for the production of flour, the staple food. With three subsidiaries and our network of technical specialists, we can now provide even faster responsiveness and shorter delivery times in the region. As the twelfth worldwide technology and production location of MC, this is another milestone in our policy of developing solutions in close proximity to and consultation with the customer.”