‘Highly effective in preserving safety and shelf life’: Corbion invests in vinegar production

08-Jan-2019 - Last updated on 08-Jan-2019 at 14:47 GMT

Corbion builds production capacity in vinegar-based preservatives for meats, spreads and other applications ©iStock/Droits d'auteur Kuvona

Biobased food ingredient supplier Corbion has completed construction of in-house production capabilities to manufacture powdered vinegar. The company says this will enable food manufacturers to deliver clean label products with an ingredient that is “highly effective” at preserving safety and shelf life.

The new “state-of-the-art” facility is located in Gorinchem, the Netherlands. It is now fully operational and will produce non-GMP powdered vinegar products, the company revealed.

Corbion produces a range of vinegar-based solutions and fermented blends under its Verdad brand. The strategic investment will help ensure “continuity and security” of supply for Corbion customers.

Combining in-house capabilities with sourcing through co-manufacturing partnerships creates a global footprint of production assets and a highly secure supply chain for powdered vinegar products at Corbion, said Ruud Peerbooms, Senior Vice President-Food at Corbion.

Feeding the fermentation trend

Peerbooms told FoodNavigator that the investment comes in response to a “constant increase in demand” for natural and clean label ingredient solutions from its global customers as well as growing consumer interest in food that is perceived as sustainable, non-GMO and organic.

“Manufacturers are always under pressure to deliver safe, delicious, quality products, and with the market continuing to demand that they do it in a clean-label, sustainable way, vinegar-based solutions are proving they can do it all.

“Our expertise in natural fermentation processes puts us in the perfect position to deliver effective vinegar-based food preservation alternatives that meet that demand. Our strategic investment in this area ultimately will play a part in enabling the industry to keep up with that growing demand.”

Peerbooms stressed that the group's vinegar and fermentation based food preservatives are as effective at extending shelf-life and promoting food safety as synthetic alternatives on the market. “Our philosophy is that a specific solution is not really a viable alternative unless it can rival the effectiveness of traditional synthetic ingredients. We develop vinegar solutions for specific applications and optimise them for different functionalities, like pathogen control and shelf-life extension, flavor enhancement and ionic strength impact in formulations, which helps validate performance against traditional benchmarks.”

‘R&S is a never-ending process’

The investment is part of Corbion’s “never-ending” focus on research and development and the company continues to invest in ingredients innovation. In 2016, the company opened a new R&D lab in Gorinchem and the company has since worked to extend its vinegars portfolio.

“We’re continuously evolving our portfolio to help our customers meet diverse global challenges, to get improved products to market faster, and to increase the sustainability of their businesses,” Peerbooms noted.

“Our strategic innovation platform focuses on creating new and better clean-label and natural preservation solutions, and our vinegar-based solutions are key building blocks toward that end. They also complement our cultured sugar portfolio in ways that help us provide customers with a broad spectrum of functionalities.”

The company’s efforts continue, Peerbooms added. “R&D is a never-ending process at Corbion because we know we can do more with our expertise in natural fermentation processes – in this case to tap vinegar’s potential as a natural preservative.”

Corbion’s vinegar-based solutions can be used for for a variety of applications, such as fresh meats, processed meats, culinary applications and spreads.