The
ingredients specialist reports stable development in 2013 – investments and
international expansion safeguard the future of the family business –
applications research and development have top priority for growth.
The
Stern-Wywiol Gruppe based in Hamburg achieved a turnover of 400 mill. EUR in
2013. With this figure the group of companies was able to stabilize its
development on a high level after recent growth rates of 20 percent. Thanks to
considerable investments in research and development and the expansion of its
international activities the enterprise is well set up in the growing market
for food and feed ingredients. At 850 the number of persons employed by the
group also remained unchanged in 2013.
The Stern-Wywiol Gruppe consists of
eleven independent specialist companies that develop, produce and distribute
functional ingredients for food and animal nutrition. They include
internationally renowned firms such as Hydrosol, Mühlenchemie, SternMaid,
Sternchemie, SternEnzym, Herza Schokolade and Berg+Schmidt. Each of the
companies has specific competence in a particular field, for example bakery or
dairy products, deli foods, meat, fish, chocolate, flavourings, lecithin,
enzymes or vitamins.
A flexible
family business as a model for success
A flexible structure is the basis for
the high innovative power and successful development of the family business.
“In the market for food and feed, which is expanding worldwide, our advantage
over the major corporations lies in providing advice on applications, in
closeness to the customer, individual product solutions and a high level of
mobility on the part of our employees”, says Torsten Wywiol, who manages the
holding company as its CEO.
Synergisms in
applications research
The Research & Development
department forms the heart of the group, where the various ingredients
divisions pool their expertise under one roof at their own Technology Centre.
On the outskirts of Hamburg, over 70 applications technologists and research
scientists develop the solutions of tomorrow. Last year the group invested
seven million EUR in extending the R&D facilities. Besides the enlargement
of the trial bakery and the dairy and deli food laboratory, a new enzyme
laboratory was set up. This is an excellent framework for helping customers to
improve their production processes and put new products on the market.
“In order to test the functionality of active
ingredients, we produce the foods on our pilot plant with equipment similar to
that used by our customers on a commercial scale. For that we have
installed state-of-the-art machines and testing units”, Wywiol explains. The
number of training events and trials increased by 35 percent compared to the
previous year.
Last year there was vigorous demand for
new developments in the field of stabilizing systems for trendy convenience
products, dairy products and deli foods, for new enzyme complexes for bakery
products and pasta and for sunflower lecithin and powdered deoiled lecithins. A
new pilot plant for pasta is also stimulating growth in the field of enzymes
for pasta and noodles. At HERZA Schokolade, a company with its seat in Norderstedt
specializing in functional chocolate pieces for further processing and in
functional bars, a new, fully automated bar production line greatly increased
capacity and productivity.
International
expansion
With an export share of 85 percent, the
eleven specialist firms supply customers in over 100 countries. They are
supported by 16 foreign affiliates, some of which have research and production
capacities of their own. The opening of the production facilities in Turkey and
India for baking and flour improvers and in Singapore and Malaysia for lecithin
and palm oil fractions were milestones in the group’s international expansion
last year. “However, because of delays in commissioning the plant we were
unable to achieve the targeted results in 2013”, Torsten Wywiol explained.
Contract
manufacturing – a field with a future
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| English: location map for the city of Hamburg, Germany in Europe (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The group is continuing its
international orientation. For example, the affiliate SternMaid America is
building a plant in Aurora, near Chicago. SternMaid Germany has its production
facility in Wittenburg (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania) and operates as a contract
manufacturer for the processing, drying, blending and filling of food
ingredients and food supplements. The company is in demand as a service
provider to both SMEs and major enterprises throughout Europe. The new plant in
Aurora is one of the most modern of its kind in the USA. A blending line and a
small-unit packaging line, both fully automated, are available on an area of
3,000 m². This equipment will permit blending capacities of about 8,000 tonnes
a year. At the production site in Wittenburg, too, the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe has
invested 16 mill. EUR in order to open up new business fields in the sphere of
fluid-bed technology for food and pharmaceutical ingredients. Further investments
are planned for the coming years in order to meet the increasing demand for
contract manufacturing of new, functional products in the food and
pharmaceutical industries.
Thanks to the many strategic investments,
Torsten Wywiol is confident that a successful future awaits the company in the
long term. The CEO was not willing to give a sales forecast for the current
financial year: “As an enterprise operating internationally we are depe
ndent on
political stability in our target markets. In many important regions like
Africa, South America and Russia, there was not always the necessary stability
last year. That makes forecasts difficult. But certainly “convenience” in food
and animal nutrition will remain a growing market worldwide. In food alone, the
world market is estimated at 35 to 40 trillion USD. We are in a segment with a
future, in which we will continually enhance the services we offer. As a family
business we are not looking for short-term returns.”
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine GFMT which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
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