Bright future for sustainable emulsifiers drives Palsgaard to expand in Shanghai
Chinese food manufacturers feeling the pressure of consumer and regulatory emphasis on healthier, safer and more sustainable products are responding by turning to sustainable ingredient producers such as Palsgaard. The emulsifier specialist with production around the globe placed its bets on growing consumer demand for a ‘greener’, healthier future decades ago. And Palsgaard customers in China and beyond are now reaping the benefits of those investments.
Small ingredient, big effect
Emulsifiers make up only a very small part of the ingredients list for a great variety of foods – from baked goods to ice cream, chocolate, dairy and margarine – but they play a huge role in ensuring product quality – and no one knows more about emulsifiers than Palsgaard. Since 1917, when founder Einar Viggo Schou invented the modern food emulsifier, the company has created hundreds of different specialised emulsifiers and perfected their use in many applications.
Bakery expansion
Palsgaard’s brand new Shanghai center, opened at an official ceremony on September 6, includes a fully equipped bakery where the company’s bakery application specialists can help customers test and develop new recipes for cake mixes based on the company’s unique Emulpals® and Palsgaard®SA ranges. These powdered emulsifiers are very easy to work with, and can be used for aerated and non-aerated cakes in bakers’ mixes, retail mixes and industrial cakes. They offer the versatility, uniformity and robustness required by each type of cake and production process – as well as the right aeration, moisture control, crumb structure and health profile.
The new bakery also includes facilities for producing cake gels based on Palsgaard’s high quality emulsifiers and allows manufacturers to test the effect of their cake gels on site.
Ice cream testing facilities
New ice cream application facilities are also in place at the Shanghai center, enabling Palsgaard specialists to help customers incorporate highly functional emulsifier/stabilizer systems in ice creams to achieve just the right mouth-feel, creaminess, melt-down properties and fat content. Additionally, the center can help to protect products against the effects of heat shock, which is becoming a focal point for ice cream manufacturers keen to maintain quality once the product leaves the factory.
“Palsgaard has been offering application service to its customers via centers in Denmark, Mexico and Singapore for decades and, as it plays a big part in how we can support our customers, we are thrilled to be able to offer this service to customers in China as well,”explains Calin Shi, Managing director of Palsgaard China Ltd. “With our global set-up, our application specialists can easily exchange ideas with their counterparts on the other side of the world, using trends from Europe and the Americas to come up with new ideas for customers.”
Sustainable first-mover
Palsgaard’s list of investments – and first-to-market achievements – in safety and sustainability is long. In 2015, the company became, for example, the first emulsifier manufacturer in the world to achieve 100% CO2neutrality (at its largest production site, in Denmark). In 2016, the first to achieve a full product product range based on RSPO certified segregated sustainable palm oil. And in 2017, Palsgaard was the first food ingredients company to join Act NOW, an organisation formed to promote sustainable value chains. Now, as the company’s award-winning Corporate Social Responsibility report describes, even stricter demands are being made of Palsgaard’s supply chain to ensure complete safety and sustainability confidence.
