Two years later, the facility has now begun production, and the company’s Nutrition and Health arm will use it to take its first step in packaging probiotics in ready-to-market formats. Through this approach, Dupont believes it can improve its speed and flexibility of distribution across China and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Although investment and capacity have not been disclosed, the company had included it as part of a global, multi-year expansion program for cultures and probiotics across the United States, Europe and now China.
Double-digit growth
“Probiotics is a fast-growing segment of our business and the industry is experiencing double-digit growth rates annually around the world and in China,” said Fabienne Saadane-Oaks, vice-president for health and protection at DuPont Nutrition & Health.
“This expansion allows us to custom blend and package probiotic products for our customers in the dietary supplement and food and beverage industries close to our customers.”
Li Yongjing, president of DuPont Nutrition and Health in China, said: “DuPont still sees the upside on the daily caloric intake of consumers in China, especially on nutrition and health products. Beverage, packaged and canned food companies are also expected to reap robust returns from China.”
The new facility will manufacture ready-to-market probiotic formulations consisting of Danisco Howaru premium and FloraFit custom probiotic brands.
Global value chain
The company will source the probiotic cultures for its products from DuPont’s North American and European sites before the new China facility then custom blends the ingredients for local requirements. China is already a significant market for the Yo-Mix dairy cultures from DuPont’s Danisco range.
According to industry estimates, in global market for probiotics was worth more than US$32bn last year, although that total is expected to increase to US$45bn over the next five years. More than 90% of total demand is attributed to food, beverage and dietary supplements.
DuPont has eight sites in China that provide a range of food ingredients, from emulsifiers, hydrocolloids, enzymes and sweetener ingredients to food protection ingredients, soy protein, lecithin and fibre, and molecular diagnostic solutions.