Dive Brief:
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Yeast and bakery ingredient specialist AB Mauri has launched AB Biotek, a new business division specializing in biofuels, alcoholic beverages, and human and animal nutrition, according to a company release.
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In the alcoholic beverages sector, the company will offer yeast solutions for distilling, winemaking and cidermaking industries. These will enhance flavor and mouthfeel, as well as convert sugar more efficiently.
- The company has nearly 150 years of experience in fermentation. The new business is headquartered in the United Kingdom, though products will be available globally.
Dive Insight:
AB Mauri’s new business unit is a natural fit for a yeast and fermentation specialist. Other food ingredients firms that have a foot in both the food and biofuels sectors include industry giants like BASF, DSM and Cargill, which has collaborated with Evolva on fermentation-derived sweeteners. Other yeast specialists like Lesaffre and Lallemand are in the brewing, bakery and animal nutrition sectors, and there is a lot of technical know-how that overlaps between these different divisions.
In alcoholic beverages, the type of yeast used in cider or wine fermentation makes a big difference in mouthfeel. Although there is no shortage of yeast suppliers already working with beverage makers in this area, AB Mauri is likely to benefit from its worldwide network of 51 plants in 33 countries, and sales in more than 90 countries.
High molasses costs have triggered competition among yeast specialists for the raw material worldwide, and AB Mauri saw revenue take a hit as a result, but its profits have recovered over the past few years.
This is a profitable business to be in. The global yeast market is growing by about 8.4% per year, driven by increased demand for biofuels, bakery products and natural flavorings, according to a report from Sandler Research.