Until now, Beneo-Palatinit offered food manufacturers its Palatinose-brand sweetener isomaltulose, a low-glycemic carbohydrate that provides the body with slow-release glucose; Beneo-Remy specialized in textural and nutritional rice-derived ingredients; and Beneo-Orafti provided prebiotic fiber ingredients inulin and oligofructose.
Speaking to FoodNavigator-USA.com at the show, corporate communication manager at Beneo Claudia Meissner said that unifying the business - in North America at first - could open up the potential for innovative ingredient combinations that would have been more difficult to coordinate before.
She said: "Even though all the companies had a particular focus, there is an overlap." Prebiotic candy for example: Could that be interesting for the industry?
When asked why the three business units were not brought together sooner, Meissner explained that "it needed some framing to make it possible" as they operated under different legal structures.
However, she added that unifying the three divisions is not without risk.
"There is a risk of becoming another wide portfolio provider," she said. "But our story is functional carbohydrates. Even more specifically, carbohydrates to provide healthy and balanced food. It is not about destroying everything and building from scratch but bringing together the best of all three. "
Beneo develops its ingredients from sugar beet, for its isomalt and Palatinose; rice, for starches, proteins, syrup, flours, bran and concentrate; and chicory root, for its prebiotic fibers inulin and oligofructose.