Agrana opens R&D centre to meet US needs

Agrana, which has its headquarters in Austria and operates in the sugar, starch and fruit industries, has based all its R&D on fruit preparations in Gleisdorf, Austria, and the results have been spun out to processing facilities around the world. In contrast to other global regions, flavors and trends in North America change more frequently, meaning that the company saw a need to be based on the ground in order to keep tabs on the latest consumer moves. The new center is in Brecksville, Ohio. "For demographic reasons, special dietary trends are far more prominent in North America than they are in other countries," it said. "The addition of health-promoting substances, such as vitamin supplements, to fruit preparations also has a higher priority in North America."​ When it comes to innovation in both the USA and Austria, Agrana employs teams of what it calls "trend scouts"​ whose job it is to identifying new nutritional trends in different parts of the world. New products and processes are then developed and extensively tested in close cooperation with marketing and sales experts before they hit the market. Agrana says its strength lies in products that keep the natural taste of the fruit and maintaining the original consistency, without neglecting conservation, are key aspects. In dairy, the success of the fruit preparation segment, which grew up out of the acquisitions of the Atys Group, Dirafrost and Steirerobst AG, by leading market position. It says that one third of all fruit yoghurts sold around the world use its preparations. In addition to making preparations for dairy, Agrana also caters to the baking and ice cream industries. In all, the company says it has "several thousand"​ formulations for fruit preparations. In full year 2006-7, the fruit segment accounted for 42 per cent of the group's overall operating profit of €107m, and reported revenue of €914.6m (48 per cent of the group total). The company has not revealed the level of its investment in the new US R&D facility, but in 2006-7 it invested €47.8m in the fruit segment. This included the installation of a third production line at its Russian facility, and a whole new plant in Cabreuva, Brazil, which will enable it to target the Brazilian dairy market. South America is described as an "attractive, high-growth market"​ and Agrana has been active in Argentina since 1994. The most recent financial report made no mention of the potential it sees in the US, but it cited market data that indicates double digit growth in Europe through 2008, and 10 percent and 14 percent respectively in the Eastern European and Asian markets.