Beneo to help more small firms with their health claims

Beneo, the new functional food group formed by Europe’s largest sugar producer Südzucker, is targeting small- and medium-sized food companies with the offer of research and development support which they might not otherwise be able to afford, according to a member of its executive board.

Launching the rebranded Beneo group, which beings together the activities of Orafti, Palatinit and Remy in prebiotics, sugar replacers and rice derivatives respectively at last week’s Food Ingredients Exhibition in London, Yves Servotte said the plan was to increase by 20% the 1,000 or so smaller companies Beneo worked with globally.

Servotte said that while continuing to work with the big players, Beneo could offer small firms support in areas such a clinical research to support health claims in areas such as weight management, digestive health, bone and dental health and cardiovascular health. “We want to be a real innovation partner for the food industry worldwide.”

The research budget for many European food companies was as little as 0.3% to 0.5% of their turnover, claimed Servotte. “So how can they find the innovation power they need?” he asked. “That’s where Beneo is well placed to help them make the step change they need to launch new products … connecting nutrition and health, that is our unique proposition.”

Beneo currently works with around 150 research institutes worldwide, whose expertise it can draw upon to help manufacturers support their health claims, said Servotte: “We are willing to share with our customers.”