The Fi Europe awards committee, that last month creamed off eight out of 40 new products shortlisted for the final selection, picked the latest texturant in the FCI range from French company Limagrain Cereales Ingredients for the silver award.
" We're delighted, this is the product's second award in one year," Nelly Petit, marketing manager at the firm told FoodNavigator.com, referring to the first prize for innovation award at the CFIA exhibition in France earlier this year.
After several years in development and slotting into the company's FCI range, Limagrain launched the FCI T-W 1000 R product onto the European market less than a year ago
" We have a long term vision. The whole range has been in development for over 15 years because we start at ground level by selecting the best varieties to grow," added Petit.
According to the company the new texturant, 'the world's first wheat flour with freeze/thaw resistance' has strong viscosity, ungelated texture, shear stability and 'excellent' pasteurisation properties. A key appeal, said Petit, is the natural aspect. The product, like all the FCI range, is a natural flour produced from a selected Limagrain cereal variety. A variety that has, in turn, been grown directly on contract with selected farmers to ensure 100 per cent traceablity.
"Both consumers and retailers are rightly demanding clean-label products, which can be scrutinised in terms of food safety and traceability," said Alain Perrin, managing director of Limagrain Cereales Ingredients.
The 150 strong company belongs to 600 french farmers gathered under the Limagrain cooperative group. On the back of €1016 million sales in 2002, the group posted a net profit of €15.2 million in 2002.