Kerry frees up Asian production capacity by opening Dutch plant

Kerry Ingredients & Flavours has freed up production capacity in its Asian ingredients facilities with the opening of an emulsifier plant in Zwindrecht, the Netherlands.

The expansion has effectively doubled Kerry’s European ingredients and flavours production capacity. The Kerry Group member’s facility in Malaysia will also have greater capacity to deal with anticipated growth in demand in the Asian market.

Demand for emulsifiers in Asia-Pacific countries is forecast to grow by around 9% annually from now to 2017, according to a Global Industry Analysts report.

This will bring the region closer in volume terms to Europe and the US, currently the world’s largest markets in this field.

“We already have two plants in the Netherlands, but we needed a new facility to cope with growth in demand,” said Kerry Group corporate affairs director Frank Hayes. “We have continually invested in that side of the business during the past five years.

“This move will help us meet our needs in the European market, while it has also freed up capacity in our Asian operation. Emulsifiers are seeing great growth in the global marketplace.”

The Dutch plant will now absorb some of the volumes previously produced at Port Klang, Malaysia.

The facility will also allow Kerry Group to offer the marketplace “competitively priced alternatives to palm oil”, including rapeseed oil and sunflower oil-based products.

Emulsifiers are widely used in the bakery sector. They produce a wide range of multi-component products. Their uses include breads, cakes, spreads, ice cream, chocolate, spreads, and soft drinks.

“Emulsifiers are an important part of the ingredient offering of the company worldwide, said René Kamminga, vice-president of Kerry’s EMEA Lipids, Emulsifiers and Texturant Systems.

“Over the past five years, the group has continuously invested in the capacity and capability of its emulsifier technology footprint to respond to the growing demand for cost effective and sustainable solutions.”

The Dutch plant is RSPO certified for mass balance and segregated palm oil to support customers in their sustainability programmes.