BENEO-Group will be announcing a major new initiative at this year’s Food Ingredients Europe (FiE) exhibition to celebrate 200 years of experience in the functional ingredients industry.

Although under wraps until FiE, the BENEO-Group’s announcement will benefit customers in the development of truly innovative new products. With over 200 years of experience in carbohydrate research, BENEO-Group offers functional ingredients that are derived from natural sources chicory, sugar beet and rice. The BENEO-Group is the ideal partner for those looking to create products suitable for weight management, digestive, bone and dental health, and for products promoting fat and sugar replacements as well as fibre enrichment.

Through use of the BENEO-Group’s Solutions Platforms approach, visitors to the stand will gain product, market and consumer insight from experts within the BENEO-Group’s three business units; BENEO-Orafti, BENEO-Palatinit and BENEO-Remy. The Solutions Platforms are focused on technical, nutritional and health benefits and are a direct response to the industry’s need for expert information regarding formulation, health and regulatory facts.

Through the Solutions Platforms, the BENEO-Group provides food producers with the expertise needed to develop innovative, balanced and healthy food products for the dairy, beverage, confectionery, bakery, sports nutrition, baby food, cereals, and dessert sectors. The Group supports its customers throughout the entire product development process; from new product ideas and concept development using consumer insight and market research, to legislation advice and formulation of successful products.

BENEO-Orafti, renowned for its inulin and oligofructose products derived from chicory, will have experts on stand to talk about the launch of the latest liquid organic fructo-oligosaccharide that gained the NOP certification for marketing in the US.  Produced from organic sugar, the Orafti®L58 Organic offers the technological and nutritional properties food producers have come to expect from BENEO-Orafti’s ingredients.  Production samples of L58 Organic are now available for US food producers and full production is planned to supply the US market from October 2009 onwards.

BENEO-Palatinit’s functional ingredients are derived from pure sugar beet.  News at FiE includes the Candy Innovation Matrix with ISOMALT designed to support the development of new sugar-free confectionery. The Matrix will help customers with new product development by enabling them to explore and combine new flavours, different ways of packaging and different product benefits such as dental care, low calorie together with characteristics such as shape, colour and structure. 

The Modern Energy Management Concept with Palatinose™ highlights the importance of fully digestible and low glycaemic carbohydrates for a balanced and prolonged release of energy. This aids physical and mental performance and helps to improve weight management and healthy nutrition.

BENEO-Remy offers functional ingredients derived from rice and is extending its range of organic and non-organic wholegrain flours.  With the US and the UK leading the way in wholegrain new product launches, BENEO-Remy’s wholegrain range lives up to the current trends and provides the perfect opportunity for new product innovation in the cereals, bakery, rice and pasta food categories. Wholegrain rice flour offers a range of benefits: in pasta it helps to create products with excellent cooking behaviour, perfect elasticity and bite; in the bakery segment there is a large range of applications in cakes, cookies and gluten free bread; and in breakfast cereals it increases hardness and prolongs bowl life.

BENEO-Group spokespeople will be available for consultations and will also partake in the FiE conference programme scheduled throughout the exhibition. Topics include:

– Leveraging the latest science to boost the effectiveness of a product range: “Gut  Health Ingredients  & Opportunities”

– Reviewing the market potential for natural ingredients “New Natural and Functional Ingredients”

– Developing beverages that boost energy management  “Beverage Applications”

The BENEO-Group consists of three successful, global companies specialising in functional ingredients with nutritional and technical advantages; BENEO-Orafti (functional ingredients sourced from chicory roots), BENEO-Palatinit (functional ingredients derived from beet sugar) and BENEO-Remy (functional ingredients derived form rice). The Group benefits from 200 years of experience and is the ideal partner to help improve the health (weight management/digestive, bone and dental health), taste, texture and nutritional value (fat and sugar replacement/fibre enrichment) of a product. Through a unique chain of expertise, the Group actively supports in the development of more balanced and healthy food products.

The BENEO-Group is a division of the Südzucker Group and has a turnover of €350 million, employs almost 900 people and has production units in Belgium, Germany, Chile and Italy.

www.BENEO-Group.com