Roquette takes collaboration to new level with multi-million dollar innovation center
With the price of its key raw materials continuing to rise, the commercial imperative to extract higher-value ingredients from corn, potatoes, wheat, peas- and now algae - has never been greater, group chief executive Guy Talbourdet told FoodNavigator-USA at the center’s official launch on Wednesday.
“We are happy to sell high fructose corn syrup," he said. "But we are not the leader in that market. Specialty products is where the growth opportunities are.
“We want to help our customers solve issues, whether it’s cutting calories, fat or sugar or adding fiber, reducing the number of ingredients they use or making their ingredients lists more natural.”
Acquisition opportunities
Innovation was critical to protect margins and steal a march on rivals, which were also pumping all available cash into extracting more value from the same crops, he added.
However, Roquette has also explored other raw materials, notably algae, and was constantly looking at new acquisition opportunities, joint ventures or investment opportunities in high-growth markets, he said.
“We are ready to do what is necessary.”
Strategic investment
Roquette's new state-of-the-art facility on the aptly named Innovation Drive is staffed by around 50 employees, some of which have moved from a rented site nearby where they have been stationed since 2008, and others who have relocated from Keokuk, Iowa, home of Roquette's corn starch plant and its US head office.
The center includes laboratories for Roquette staff and customers to work together on product development, a culinary kitchen for prototype demonstrations, the Roquette University auditorium for educational seminars, a pilot facility for product trials and customer meeting rooms.
Built for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver certification, the center has commercial-scale laboratory equipment and instrumentation to meet customer needs and speed up the product development process, added Fernando Arias, vice president, commercial development, Roquette America.
“This is a strategic investment for Roquette. We also own the land around it so we can easily expand if we want to.”
A new pilot facility at the center featuring extrusion kit, a spray drier and a tablet press would come onstream in the first half of 2012, he added.
Give peas a chance
One of the biggest growth opportunities for Roquette was pea-based ingredients (protein, fibers and starches), which ticked all of the right boxes when it came to sustainability, functionality and nutrition and tapped into a growing demand for non-GMO, grain-free, non-allergenic, natural ingredients extracted without hexane or other organic solvents, claimed Arias.
“This is a very dynamic, growth-oriented market.”
Should demand for its pea protein, starch and fiber continue to grow in the US, Roquette could either expand capacity at its manufacturing facility in France (where they are currently made) or build a new plant in Canada, close to the yellow pea crop, said Roquette board member Bernard Yon.
But he added: "No decision has been taken yet on this.”
Veggie taco meal kit – with pea protein
Several prototype products containing Roquette's Nutralys pea protein were on display at the new center including a vegetarian meal kit containing a pack of pea protein shoppers could rehydrate and use to make veggie tacos.
Roquette had also worked hard to improve the stability and solubility of Nutralys for use in ready-to-drink beverages, said human nutrition business unit manager Craig Glover.
Nutralys worked well as an extender or emulsifier in meat (pending regulatory approval in the US), or in combination with fibers to make more satiating weight management products, he added. "We're also seeing gluten free as a growth opportunity."
Meanwhile, Roquette's Nutriose soluble fiber (derived from corn or wheat), was also gaining traction thanks to its superior heat and acid stability and the fact it was better tolerated in the gut than some other soluble fibers such as inulin, claimed Glover.
Nice, and nothing like as naughty
While reduced sugar and fat claims had lost a little momentum as consumers looked for more positive messages, the wider roll out of front-of-pack nutritional labeling schemes could help to refocus manufacturers' minds on reformulation - and in turn boost Roquette's polyols business - said Glover
“It may be that reduced sugar is not what manufacturers necessarily choose to talk about with consumers, however. They might reduce the sugar, but talk about higher fiber or satiety, for example."
