Food companies are desperate to get off the guar gum rollercoaster, says hydrocolloids expert
Guar gum prices have taken a rollercoaster ride over the past couple of years - and at IFT in Las Vegas, hydrocolloid expert Dennis Seisun said all bets were on regarding their future direction.
Seisun, marketing consultant at IMR International and publisher of the Quarterly Review of Hydrocolloids, said that guar gum prices had risen from just over a dollar a kilo to peak at as much as $25 a kilo over the course of about 18 months. Food manufacturers are desperately looking for alternatives, but demand remains high, and opinions are split over whether the hydrocolloid will remain above $10 a kilo at the end of the calendar year...
Seisun's view?
"Whatever the crop size is, demand, particularly in the oil sector, will continue to exceed supply and keep prices up about the $10 level."
