The firm has built one new plant in Israel specialising in FOS production in powder form and exports worldwide, and another in Barcelona specialising in liquid production in order to support the European market.
Galam's short-chain FOS, named GOFOS, is produced from beet sugar by a unique proprietary enzymatic process.
Mr Liad Cohen, CEO at Galam, says: “Based on the vast technological experience that Galam has obtained over the last decade and our understanding of the market, we have decided to invest $20M in our new facilities. The world’s demand for prebiotic fibers in general and FOS in particular is rapidly increasing and Galam is working on being a major supplier of high quality sc-FOS in this growing worldwide market.”
Prebiotic popularity
Prebiotic ingredients in the European market are categorised into fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), mannan oligosaccharide (MOS), and inulin, most of which are naturally occurring substances in a variety of foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, etc.
Dr. Fernando Schved, VP R&D, Support & CSO at Galam says short chain FOS are supported with scientific evidence demonstrating that daily consumption brings about a range of health benefits by providing balanced gut microbiota resulting in wellbeing in both humans and animals.
“Short chain fructo-oligosaccharides (sc-FOS) are one group of strong prebiotics highly known and documented for their beneficial roles in colon wellbeing. GOFOS is characterised by short oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerisation of 3-5 monomeric units, which have been documented to be effectively fermented by Bifidobacteria and certain Lactobacillus species providing a proven prebiotic effect at lower doses.”
In addition to its prebiotic properties, FOS may contribute to sugar reduction and fiber enrichment demands, and is commonly used in food applications such as cereals, energy bars, dairy and non-dairy products, confectionary, bakery, chocolate and more.
Europe's prebiotics market value is expected to exceed $3.5bn (€3.1bn) by 2026, according to new market research by Graphical Research.
The firm says prebiotics are being touted as the next super-ingredient for gastrointestinal health and the global prebiotics industry size may record a compound annual growth rate of 9.5% till 2026.
“Rising public awareness, particularly in the Europe region, regarding the significance of fiber and high-quality protein consumption, in order to maintain ideal nutritional levels is expected to spur the growth of the prebiotics industry," says Saloni Walimbe, Graphical Research content writer.
"In fact, according to estimates from credible sources, the Europe prebiotics market is anticipated to surpass a valuation of nearly $3.5bn by 2026.”