The Global Miller: March 2019

March 31, 2019

Just chicken feed? Not any more

by Roger Gilbert, Milling and Grain reporting from IPPE 2019

When there’s serious competition companies make increased investments in research and development and go on to further their commitment to product development in an effort to ensure customers achieve the best outcomes and return on investment.

As a result of this process everyone benefits from these commercial-driven initiatives.

That was clear at this year’s IPPE 2019 in Georgia Congress Centre, Atlanta, USA where several companies provided clear evidence of recent investments being made in managing livestock and poultry health.

A key driver is the need to reduce, if not eliminate, the inclusion of antibiotics in every-day feed production systems.

Evonik is one such company supporting the health status of livestock. It has over 120 researches close to its headquarters in Essen, Germany.

In fact, seven years ago it switched emphasis from a focus on nutritional amino acids only to understanding and managing ‘gut health,’ which has opened the way for “new opportunities for product development,” says Professor Dr Stefan Pelzer who joined Evonik as its director of research and development in its Animal Nutrition Innovation Management section at that time.

He told Milling and Grain that by 2030 “we will have to provide food for 8.5 billion people who will be consuming some 45kg of meat per capita per year.” That compares to just 41kg/capita in 2011. Land resource per head will fall to 0.22ha/person from 0.25ha in 2011, he adds.

And to meet that food need, chicken will remain the meat of choice as its not associated with religious taboos, is robust and relatively easy to farm and is highly productive and cost efficient.

Chicken consumption is expected to exceed pork consumption by the end of next year, according to the FAO.

It’s not just food security that is driving research developments at Evonik, but also the need to reduce or eliminate the in-feed use of antibiotics. And the drive to reduce the use of antibiotics is not coming from official government policy it says, but from feed customers responding to growing consumer awareness and the public debate taking place around the way antibiotics are being prescribed for human therapy as well, he adds.

Read more HERE.

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

Satake company profile

In 1896, the founder of the Satake Corporation, Riichi Satake, invented and began the production of Japan's first power driven rice milling machine.

In the subsequent one hundred years, a succession of successful developments and a wealth of accumulated research and knowledge have made Satake the world leader in grain processing systems. Satake produces a comprehensive range of individual machines, integrated systems and totally engineered solutions for the processing of rice, wheat and other grains.

The Company is proud of its tradition of innovation which ensures that Satake machines and systems are always at the forefront of technology.

Satake has achieved its position as the oldest, largest and most advanced company in its fields through its commitment to offering customers superb equipment, specially developed to meet their needs. This driving principle has led directly to the prosperity of the Company.

According to their website: "We are most grateful to all our customers for their patronage which has allowed us to become known and respected in Japan and over 140 countries throughout the world."

"Satake is a 'customer company' as well as a 'technically oriented company' putting the principle of customer satisfaction into practice. The support and assistance of our customers are greatly appreciated."

Visit the website HERE.

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.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

March 28, 2019

Poland is quickly embracing feed safety: Promising developments in Eastern Europe

by GMP+, Poland

Over the past decade, compound feed production in Poland has more than doubled to over 11 million tonnes per year, a development boosted by increased demand for poultry feed and cattle feed. As Poland has taken its place as the largest poultry producing country in the European Union, feed safety has become top of mind.

Here we gain some insight into a conversation with Magdalena Zgiep-Porzucek (PZZ Wałcz), Tomasz Wertelecki (ETOS), and Johan den Hartog (GMP+ International) about Poland’s progress.

Johan den Hartog, Managing Director at GMP+ International, recently came home encouraged after making a trip to Poland. GMP+ International, owner of the world’s largest feed safety assurance scheme, had organised multiple seminars in this Eastern European country over the course of several years. But this time was different.

“On this trip, it became clear to me that Poland has really turned the corner: feed safety is becoming top of mind”, Den Hartog wrote afterwards, on his blog at GMP+ International’s website.

Embracing feed safety
“It’s not just the numbers”, Den Hartog emphasises in his office at GMP+ International’s headquarters in Rijswijk, the Netherlands. “I knew the numbers of Poland’s feed sector growth. I knew the number of GMP+ Feed Safety Assurance (FSA) certificates had been skyrocketing for the last few years. What I was really impressed by in Poland, was the dedication of the people we met.

“Ten years ago, we could barely find an audience in Poland for our seminars. Now, people drive for hours to meet us and hear about our scheme. I saw a true embrace of feed safety assurance and that was extremely encouraging.”

As of 2019, over 2,700 companies in Poland are GMP+ FSA certified, a tenfold increase compared to 2009. Due to this surge, almost 80 percent of the Polish compound feed industry is now certified.

Taking the lead
What changed in those ten years? For starters, more and more clients in Western Europe started asking Polish transport companies to have GMP+ FSA certification. In more recent years, the domestic agri-market (poultry and dairy specifically) has also increasingly been requesting their feed suppliers to become GMP+ FSA certified.

“No longer do foreign companies have to make demands, Polish companies themselves are taking the lead”, says Den Hartog.

PZZ Wałcz, which has about 230 employees, is one of them. A feed producing company from Piła, in the northwestern region of Poland, PZZ Wałcz has been GMP+ FSA certified since 2016.

“Many companies in Poland are interested in GMP+ certification, due to the increased awareness”, says Magdalena Zgiep-Porzucek of PZZ Wałcz. “What also plays an important role are the requirements, in relation to producers and suppliers of feed materials and feed additives”, she adds.

Read more HERE.

Kay Jay Chill Rolls company profile

Kay Jay Chill Rolls is one of the pioneers in production of mill rolls in India for various industries. Since 1979, they have always been concentrated on research and development for the production of mill rolls, striving to make them of the highest quality standards. In the year 1999, they diversified and started manufacturing roll fluting machines, followed by combined roll grinding and fluting (rgf) machines.

Today Kay Jay Rolls are producing all types of rolls and machines in joint venture with Walzen Irle GmbH, Germany. With their German Partners they have built up a complete new manufacturing facility to produce rolls and machines, in the name of Irle Kay Jay Rolls Pvt Ltd. The whole manufacturing process for producing rolls and machines is carried out in the new manufacturing facilities, with complete technical know-how from Germany.

“We always value the feedback of our valued customers to develop new products and give best service,” - Kay Jay Chill Rolls.

History
1979 – start of production of mill rolls, for various industries
1999 – developed the hydraulic roll fluting/grooving machine
2000 – build the combined roll grinding and fluting machine (hydraulic)
2005 – with the help of continuous research and development program, we started commercial production of PLC/CNC (automatic) combined roll grinding and fluting machines.
2007 – entered into a joint venture with German Roll Manufacturer, Walzen Irle GmbH, to make high quality rolls in India for various markets.
2007 – jointly with the German partners, formed Irle Kay Jay Rolls Pvt Ltd.
2008 – built up a complete new manufacturing facility to produce highest quality rolls, with technical know-how and equipment from German partners.
2009 – start producing rolls in the new manufacturing facilities, which one of the most modern roll foundry and machine shop having latest equipment and machines.
2011 – started building sand blasting machines or frosting machines for rolls.

Kay Jay Chill Rolls is an ISO 9001 : 2015 company. view the ISO Certificate for Kay Jay Chill Rolls, HERE.

View the company’s corporate video, HERE.

Visit the Kay Jay Chill Rolls website, HERE.

the interview | Antonio Prati, Founder, PLP Liquid Systems

Milling and Grain visited PLP Liquid Systems in Lugagnano val D’Arda in Piacenza in northern Italy in December 2018 to meet with the founder Antonio Prati and his son Marco who is taking over the business.
PLP Liquid Systems is a business focused on dosing and weighing equipment for liquids in feed, pet food, food and chemical businesses, with complete systems for liquid dose control, continuous coating on finished products, emulsifiers, motorised sprayers, flow meters, pumps, filters, etc. He explains to us from his brand-new factory in the hills south of Piacenza, how a modest family business can compete on a worldwide stage.

What made you consider starting your business and take up the challenge of meeting demand in the feed industry?
I was inspired to start the business when I was working for a petrol company in the mid-1970s. It began with the molasses. I knew nothing about how to apply molasses to feed but had been asked if I could design one by an Italian feed manufacturer.
It was 1978 and I was on my way to the UK when I met an engineer from Royal Royce Engines who suggested I should try to apply an application system that was being used in the engines of airplanes. A simple drawing explaining the concept led to our first SMOG sprayer.
We made and installed the first and that was followed by people asking for more. Over time I had a very close friendship with the engineer I had met and his family. I started the company in 1979 from that little drawing. From that small light of three people we now have a team of 22 people.

How do you manage to provide and service customers all over the world as a small family-run company in a remote village in northern Italy?
Much of the work in the early years was the travel involved in installation of the pipelines.
However, today 90 percent of the projects don’t require us on site to do that work.
We do the engineering and design and the installation is simplified and can be done by the customer. If the customer requires assistance we have local contractors who will do the installation for them. But we are providing mostly to feed mills and they understand this technology.
Our machines are ‘plug-n-play’ and just need to be installed and pipes connected. We can provide remote support via the cloud to customers from Vietnam to Latin America. We have a full-time representative who sell for us in Italy to a range of Italian companies, but we are also looking for agents in individual countries worldwide

Do you usually sell your products direct to the end-consumer, or to additive companies?
Our machines are well known in the feed and wine industries. However, our customers are those related to these industries and are usually companies selling additives. We are not selling direct to the end user.
At present there are three companies worldwide providing this type of equipment. We focus on coating of micro liquids such as fat and powders, dosing into a mixer based on weighing and spraying and micro dosing. Our Dosamix system, for example, is a liquid dosing system using SMOG sprayers which is unique in a liquid spraying system. We also have developed a ‘Post Stress Powder Application’ (PSPA) system and a MDP easy-batch system. This is some of our product range.

Are you using foreign components in your equipment?
As we are based in Italy, we are proud to say all of our components are made here in Italy. Our machinery is also all connected to the internet and can be remotely monitored with remote assistance.

In what specific regions are your business really growing?
This year it was Vietnam for aquafeed that saw a significant growth, and Latin America, spreading around from Chile to Bolivia and Guatemala. We gain these customers primarily through our own sellers and distributors as part our expanding PLP Liquid Systems network.
We only started business in Latin America two years ago and we have already had great results. For a while we did not have a primary focus on the Latin American market, but as technology advances, it is becoming a key area of business for us.

Where are the future markets for this type of equipment likely to be?
While it is difficult to see good growth here in Italy, I think we have a good chance to grow in other markets.
Our growth has to be achieved carefully as we are a family company. We will always have a technical advantage due to the fact we are based here in Italy. While there is not a new way of producing feed, the big players in our industry always get bigger and we journey together with them. I think being part of turnkey projects will become more common in future.

How do family-owned companies operate globally in your view?
For us we have to stay small and to rely on innovation and research and development to evolve for the future. That’s how we have survived and prospered. That’s why we are building a small test plant here for developing our spraying units. We are changing a range of small things on these systems all the time to make them better, easier to maintain and to add value to the customer. What we do is not really to invent something that changes the role of making things, it is just changing small things at a time so there is always something better- adding true value to our products.

Milling and Grain - April 2019 - available now!

Back issues available

March 27, 2019

African Swine Fever Conference co-hosted by Milling and Grain in Beijing, China

by Roger Gilbert, Publisher Milling and Grain Magazine

China's national pig herd is nearing crisis point following an outbreak of African Swine Fever. Unlike normal Swine Fever, the African variety is deadly and already China's pig numbers were down over 16 percent in February 2019 compared to the same month in 2018. Sow numbers falling at just under 20 percent based on a survey of 28 percent of China's 1406 counties. This year from January to February, overall pig numbers are declining at roughly five percent per month. There are more than 110 reported outbreaks of the deadly ASF in some 30 provinces, reports the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the disease is spreading.

Milling and Grain were called upon to co-host a one-day conference to address the issue of ASF in China, from the perspective of the feed manufacturer supplying feed to both infected, at-risk and clean farms. Milling and Grain were invited by turn-key and equipment manufacturer FAMSUN to jointly host a meeting of some 200 large feed millers and pig producers which took place today 27th March in Beijing China. Over 160 attendees were able to learn more about the disease, how it spreads and what can be done to either maintain or protect farms from contracting the disease.

Chinese large pig producers attend one-day AFRICAN Swine Fever Conference in Beijing organised jointly by FAMSUN and Milling and Grain with Chinese Feed Assocaition. Over 160 attended with keynote speakers from the UK and USA.
Image credit: Milling and Grain

The one-day conference also looked at what must be done to respond to the infection and how to go about rebuilding a farming operation following disease eradication. There were a range of local and international speakers on the programme with one specialist presenting from Spain and three specialists presenting from the UK.

'The UK is in a strong position to assist as it has faced several disease challenges over recent decades and has introduced strong bio-security on farms that protects both animals and farms by encouraging farmers to work together by creating an early-warning internet-based programme that can be used should a challenge occur and offer a robust and prescribed methodology for handing those threats,' says Milling and Grain publisher Roger Gilbert.

'We have provided three specialists from the UK with good knowledge of bio-security when it comes to disease prevention and identification in pig herds. And as our magazine is also published in Chinese we will be able to follow-up the advice and information given with further details for feed manufacturers to consider and adopt as we move forward.

'Working together is essential for the Chinese pig industry to combat and bring this devastating disease under control and feed manufacturers are in a good position to co-ordinate such an approach and work closely with pig farmers.

'This won't be an easy or short-term fix but an approach that addresses an ongoing issue that both feed manufactures and their pig-rearing clients must adopt and this is the first step in that process.'

For information on speakers read the full article on the Milling and Grain website, HERE.

Science meets technology, CHOPIN Technologies contributes to 19th ICC Conference 2019

The 19th ICC Conference will take place April 24-25th in Vienna, Austria. CHOPIN Technologies are contributing to a parallel session titled 'Innovations and Applications for Cereal Laboratories', which will take place 3.30pm until 5.00pm on Thursday 25th April.

Laboratories missions can roughly be separated in two main purposes. The first, traditional one, is quality control, the detection and evaluation of a prime material versus certain specifications. A more modern approach is the use of laboratory data to predict the quality of a final product, this is more aligned with what research, or new product development labs try to do. This session will bring together four great scientists who will present real solutions to applications which aim to provide comprehensive solutions to today's laboratory challenges.

Session speakers

Role of rheology as quality predictor in gluten free based foods
Dr Cristina Molina Rosell – Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos, Spain
As technology evolves so do laboratory control tools, Dr Rosell will show new uses of existing tools to obtain valuable new data. Every day, it becomes more obvious that a single data set cannot explain the complex behaviours of a bread dough during processing and the final result. A study has shown that huge amounts of data and regression tools like MLR are powerful tools to predict final product properties.

Consideration about wheat milling, from a consortium to the first test on a new laboratory tool
Christine Bar L'Helgouac'h – ARVALIS-Institut du végétal, France
Christine Bar l'Helgouac'h will describe how to predict wheat behaviour during milling by observing wheat behaviour at the laboratory level. Today, most users consider extraction rate as the most important parameter. Our data will show that wheat with very different behaviours can present the same extraction rate, behaviours which can badly affect the industrial process.

Method validation requirements: past and prospects
Amine Jbeilly – ICC Technical director - Industrial Research Institute, Lebanon
Standardisation is a very important part of the laboratory puzzle, Amine Jbeilly will give a presentation of how a standard is built, how can we use the results and what is an alternative method.

Example of the application of dough mixing and heating behavior in cereal research
Sándor Tömösközi – Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
Sándor Tömösközi will speak about the use of the Mixolab as a tool to help the formulation ofgluten-free mixes by better understanding the interaction between starch, proteins and specific ingredients.

Come listen and meet these professionals who will present concrete examples of the use of research and technology, serving cereal industry.

For more information on the 19th ICC Conference visit the website, HERE.
Visit the CHOPIN Technologies website, HERE.

Pulses – Bridging the protein gap sustainably

by Alexandra Londoño Baderschneider, Strategic Business Development Manager, Bühler, Switzerland

“Healthy food” is currently the major consumer megatrend. But what exactly do consumers seek in this claim? It encompasses various needs including weight control, enforcing cardiovascular and digestive health or organic and allergen-free products. But also the perceived benefit of protein-rich food has increased in recent years. With good reason: Protein is essential to life. Without this macronutrient - the body cannot function properly.

The name protein comes from the Greek word ‘proteos’, which means primary or first place. According to the Food and Agriculture organisation (FAO), proteins make up about 17 percent of the mass of the average person. They are necessary in many ways for our health, especially for growth and for maintenance and repair of the body.

This makes it essential for children and adults alike. Proteins are needed to produce metabolic and digestive enzymes and they are a vital component of hormones such as insulin. For all the above reasons, it is highly important to assure protein security. However, considering that by 2050 the projected world population will rise above nine billion people, “traditional” protein from animal sources (meat, fish and dairy products) is not sustainable. Vegetable protein sources need to fill this gap.

Pulses are legumes with dry edible seeds. They include lentils, peas, beans and chickpeas. On average, one cup of pulses contains more than twice the protein of one cup of corn or rice. Pulses are gluten free, low in fat and rich in fibre; therefore, helping to improve digestion and prevent heart disease.

As pulses have been an essential part of several regions’ diets for centuries, pulses are readily available. Annually, about 80 million tons of pulses are harvested with 65 percent destined to go to food applications. With the growing interest of the food industry in including pulses as ingredients in breads, snacks, beverages and meat products, the amount of food destination is increasing at more than four percent yearly. And this is good because it is sustainable. Pulse crops require low energy to grow and increase soil fertility.
Read more HERE.

Inteqnion Solutions company profile

Inteqnion is specialised in the design, build and installation of control systems for the batch and continuous controlled process industry. With their control solutions, Inteqnion focus on the improvement and optimisation of your production process.

Industries
You can find Inteqnion Process Control Systems in different segments within the feed, flour and bulk industry. For each segment, Inteqnion modifies the Process Control Systems for the specific requirements in the particular market.

Why choose Inteqnion?
“When you cooperate with Inteqnion you choose for quality and reliability. You benefit from our knowledge and experience our passion. Inteqnion is a no-nonsense organisation with more than 30 professionals who have years of experience in the process industry”
– Inteqnion Solutions

Visit the Inteqnion website, HERE.

6 new entries confirmed for the GRAPAS Innovations Awards

In the past week, six new entires have been confirmed for the GRAPAS Innovations Awards, the leading awards ceremony for food production machinery. The latest applicants include marvellous feats of technological innovations from companies such as Balaguer Rolls, Selis and Bühler.

The deadline to apply for the GRAPAS Innovations Awards is this Friday, March 31st, so if you want your product to be featured, get in touch now! Applicants for the awards get the change to present their chosen product at the GRAPAS Conference, on June 13th at VICTAM International. Their products will be judged by a team of international expert judges, who will then choose their winner(s) for the awards.

Applicants will also recieve a special floor area in the VICTAM exhibition hall, within which they can display their chosen product as a part of the GRAPAS Innovations Awards.

This weeks applicants for the awards include:

BUHLER- GrainiGo

GrainiGo is the first digitally connected and affordable quality analysis tool that challenges the status quo of grain analysis by taking out the subjectivity of the process and adding valuable insights of the potential value of the raw material at the earliest stage. GrainiGo brings transparency among the value chain of corn as an external proof of quality.

According to Watson Mc Kinney, former Front Line Leader at PepsiCo 'GrainiGoTM has the potential to revolutionise the whole industry by providing an efficient, consistent and reliable quality analysis standard to theindustry.'

BALAGUER ROLLS- Optical Fluting Test 2.0

Following the success of the first Optical Fluting Test, the world's only device to check rolls profiles by optical vision, this second generation has been specifically designed to help millers to easily measure and check roll profiles. In only few easy steps, the device enables the miller to get a certificate which will show the existing fluting profile of a specific roll, in order to help them to take the decision of changing the rolls at the most suitable and cost-effective time.

BUHLER- MoisturePro

MoisturePro is a digital service that, for the first time, truly targets sustainable process improvement by connecting machine, operator, and process experts in a digital relationship. As global population is expected to reach 9 billion people in 2050 we must find sustainable food solutions. Nearly 30 percent of the food supply is wasted with the world's current food processes.

Bühler sought to find a way to leverage our long history of process knowledge and machine manufacturing to partner with food processors to create a holistic impact. The result is a sustainable relationship of best practices, machines and people.

SELIS- Dynamic Angled Positioning System (DAPS)

Dynamic Angled Positioning System (DAPS system) has brought a big solution to the important problems on the smooth roll passages and fine grooved roll passages. Due to the thermal expansion on the edges of the cylindrical grounded (no cambered) smooth rolls, caused by the heat generated by the bearings of the rolls, rolls become a concave shape. By means of angular positioning of two rolls, through the milling line on the rolls, milling gap between the rolls will be equal.

BUHLER- Particle Size Measurement (PSM)

Conventionally, particle size measurements are done via a manual sieve analysis in the lab. This takes time and requires manpower and delays counteractions in case of deviations. With the Bühler Online Particle Size Measurement Solution every single batch is measured at the mixer. The automatically removed sample is analyzed by an optical sensor and a granulation curve for particle sizes between 10 to 5000 μm is automatically issued. Another evaluated parameter is the specific characteristic (d10, d50, d90) with a standard deviation for d50 of ≤ 2.5%. The results are available after a measurement time of only 165 – 195 seconds.

BUHLER- LumoVision

Lumovision is based on data-driven optical sorting technology that closely targets grains affected by Aspergillus Fungi, the cause of Aflatoxin contamination. Produced by a fungal mold, aflatoxin is colorless and odorless, making it difficult to detect. Yet as few as 2 highly contaminated grains in 10,000 can render an entire batch unsafe. Identifying and removing aflatoxin-contaminated grains is a major challenge.

With the new cloud-based system constantly monitoring the product flow and assessing risk, yield losses are reduced to almost zero, while the safety of the final product is assured.

To apply for the awards please email Production Editor Rebecca Sherratt at rebeccas@perendale.co.ukand enquire for an application form before March 31st!

The GRAPAS Conference

The GRAPAS Innovations Awards will be presented, and the winner revealed, at the GRAPAS Conference, taking place on June 13th at VICTAM International. The conference already has confirmed a variety of influential industry speakers, including President of nabim, George Marriage, as well as Marie Haga, Executive Director of the Crop Trust.

Read the full article HERE.

March 26, 2019

Agribusiness launches set to take place during Agrishow 2019, Brazil

A lot of launches are being prepared for visitors, at the Agrishow 2019 – 26th International Fair of Agricultural Technology in Action, which will take place between April 29th and May 3rd in Ribeirão Preto, in the interior of São Paulo, Brazil.

The event should be attended by more than 800 national and international exhibition brands and should gather more than 150,000 qualified visitors from Brazil and abroad in 520 thousand square meters.

"It is important that all exhibitors and visitors schedule their visits to Agrishow, since it will host the greatest launches of machines, equipment and supplies in the world," says Francisco Matturro, president of Agrishow 2019. "Overall, the year is very positive. Prices are good, commodities are in good demand, farmers are producing very well in the country as a whole, with some regional exceptions. The reading we have to do in relation to the expectations for Agrishow should be based on other signs. And, from an institutional and political point of view, signals are highly positive, not only for agribusiness, but for the economy as a whole.'

As the fair that drives agribusiness in Brazil, Agrishow 2019 confirms two attractions that are considered by the visiting public as differentials of the event: the Knowledge Arena and the Field Demonstration Arena.

A stage to show new technologies, knowledge, and trends, the Knowledge Arena will feature content events that will bring relevant information to day-to-day and business of professionals in the field.

The Field Demonstration Arena will offer to the visitors the opportunity to see Coopercitrus planting and horticultural crops, as well as other technology demonstrations. In this edition, a new feature will be the Innovation Arena, with the participation of 10 startups and the Artisan Producer Arena.

"This is the eighth edition that Coopercitrus is exhibiting at Agrishow and we are very pleased with the results, because, year after year, the number of visitors to our booth increases. We have evolved in the business carried out during the fair and, since it is a central area of the region where the cooperative operates, Agrishow is an event where our members are present. Every year, the cooperative invites 10,000 cooperative members to visit the fair, where we have the opportunity to show some services that are carried out and guide the producers on the best practices in agriculture. In addition, sharing the fair with the largest manufacturers in equipment and supplies from Brazil and the world is very important. So, for a cooperative that has as innovation the vanguard and the search for integrated solutions, being at the fair is a source of satisfaction and pride," says Fernando Degobbi, CEO of Coopercitrus.

Leading Latin American industry fair, the 26th Agrishow is already with its tickets on sale.

To purchase the ticket, visit the Agrishow 2019 website, HERE.

The Stern-Wywiol Gruppe ranks as an 'Innovations-Champion' for the second time running

In 2018 the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe was classed among the 50 most innovative medium-sized companies in Germany for the second time running. The 'Innovations-Champion' ranking is determined by the management consultants Munich Strategy in cooperation with the news magazine WirtschaftsWoche. Over 3,500 German companies with annual sales between 10 million and 1 billion EUR took part in the evaluation.

'We don't think of innovation just in terms of products; for us it starts with the strategic orientation of the company. As an independent family business, we create structures and personal scope that stimulate the curiosity, readiness to invest and creativity of each individual employee', said Torsten Wywiol, CEO of the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe, on receiving the award again. In the past few years the ranking has demonstrated that more and more small and medium-sized companies are adopting this concept of innovation: 47 percent of the top 15 enterprises have implemented strategic innovation and are benefiting from more sustainable returns than through product or process innovations alone.

The heart of the group is the Stern-Technology Centre in Ahrensburg, near Hamburg, where research and applications technology are centralised under one roof. It is there that over 100 employees are engaged in applications research and development and use their knowledge and interdisciplinary cooperation to create new, customised solutions.
Image credit: © Alle Rechte vorbehalten / Stern-Wywiol Gruppe

This company orientation was therefore one of the decisive criteria for the final selection of the 50 Innovations-Champions. The basis for assessment of the companies is the 'innovation score': two-thirds of this score is calculated from the innovative power of the companies, and one-third from their performance.

In the Hamburg-based Stern-Wywiol Gruppe, twelve independent specialist firms develop, produce and distribute ingredients and additives that simplify and enhance the production of foods and animal feed. They include internationally renowned companies such as Hydrosol, Mühlenchemie, SternMaid, SternVitamin, Sternchemie, SternEnzym, HERZA Schokolade and Berg + Schmidt. Each individual firm has specific competence of its own – in baked goods, dairy products, deli foods, meat, fish, chocolate, flavourings, lecithin, enzymes or vitamins. In many branches of the food industry, the outstanding competence of these specialist units has made them leading worldwide suppliers in their fields.

The heart of the group is the Stern-Technology Center in Ahrensburg, near Hamburg, where research and applications technology are centralised under one roof. It is there that over 100 employees of the German companies are engaged in applications research and development and use their knowledge and interdisciplinary cooperation to create new, customised solutions. The facility in Ahrensburg is complemented by applications laboratories and technology centres in the foreign affiliates and partner firms. 'With this model we have set ourselves apart from the major raw material suppliers in the global ingredients markets and now play a pioneering role in respect of appropriate applications and customer care on the spot. That shows itself in the fact that Munich Strategy's close innovation ranking is made up largely of IT and technology companies, and we are one of the few representatives of the food industry', said Torsten Wywiol, emphasising the significance of the good placing for his enterprise.

For more information visit the Stern-Wywiol website, HERE.

Folic Acid: UK to fortify wheat flour in United Kingdom

by Vaughn Entwistle, Managing Editor, Milling & Grain
Preventing NTDs
After years of consideration and debate, the United Kingdom is now set to require folic acid fortification in wheat flour. The medical profession has long called for the introduction of this form of fortification, saying that it could reduce the incidence of conditions caused by abnormal development of the neural tube, including brain, spine or spinal column birth defects.

The two most common NTDs are spina bifida and anencephaly. NTDs form in the first few weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant.

Folic acid fortification
Most flour in the US and Canada has been fortified with folic acid (which is also known as vitamin B9) since the 1990s. The US was the first country to require mandatory folic acid fortification of enriched grain products (bread, cereals, pasta and rice).

The regulations were introduced in 1998 and resulted in a 36 percent reduction in NTD (Neural Tube Defects). Because NTDs in Hispanics are 21 percent higher than the rest of the population, the US FDA (Food & Drug Administration) recently announced a mandate to include folic acid fortification of corn masa flour, a staple of Hispanic cuisine.

When fortification first began in Canada, neural tube defects – including spina bifada and anencephaly – halved. Fortification mandates in Costa Rica, Chile, and South Africa have yielded similar results.

Worldwide adoption
Many post-Soviet countries have also embraced fortification, including Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, with other countries such as Tajikistan and Georgia now moving to also comply.

In fact, more than 75 countries worldwide have implemented mandatory folic acid fortification of wheat products and yet, surprisingly, most EU countries (with, now, the UK being the exception) are resisting following this initiative. Australia has joined the list, while New Zealand initially agreed but has since continued debating the issue.

Read more HERE.

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