The company produces 60 food grade lubricants from a product portfolio of 350 in total and is one of the largest white oil producers, which is also used as a release agent for baking and the pharmaceutical industry.
Beverage dairy and meat processing
Michael Colquhoun, category portfolio manager, white oil and food grade lubricants, Petro-Canada, told FoodProductionDaily, it primarily focuses on the beverage dairy and meat processing sectors.
“We are currently developing our next generation food grade lubricants to develop additional longevity of the oil,” he said.
“There are currently two types of oil, synthetic and mineral based. Ours are mineral based, which is the type that comes from white oil. Now, we are trying to form a product to create longevity in a range of synthetic products.
“The reason why longevity is so important is if oil lasts longer in equipment, manufacturers can run it without so many changeovers and the lubricant stays cleaner and the machinery stays cleaner in the long run.
“It is in the development stage now and we hope to launch in Q1, 2016.”
China expansion second sales office
Colquhoun said Petro-Canada recently got certified for ISO 21469, the highest standard in regulations for food lubricant products, authorized by the NSF, public health and safety organization.
The audit was completed at the end of last year and is an annual re registration process.
The firm is also expanding into China and opened a second sales office in Guangzhou, adding to its first sales and distribution warehouse in Shanghai, with future plans for expansion in Beijing.
Referring to the 2008 melamine scandal – where six infants died and around 300,000 people were taken ill in China after consuming milk powder tainted with nitrogen-rich melamine, Colquhoun said manufacturers there have more interest in food safety.
“There are extremely large business opportunities in China for us, transitioning from a food quality perspective and looking for Canadian-made products that are of a higher quality,” he added.
“We have seen a shift in culture there in terms of what manufacturers and food processors want to buy. Companies are becoming more interested in food safety following the Melamine outbreak in 2008.
“Firms might not know us by name in Europe but we work with a lot of international companies, such as Nestlé, Mondelēz and Danish Crown in all food production in commercial and industrial applications.
“Even a small piece of the pie in China is quite large on a global scale.”