€25m investment to strengthen Roquette’s position in polyols market

Roquette, a global leader in plant-based ingredients and a leading provider of pharmaceutical excipients, has announced an investment plan at its site in Lestrem, France. This will see the company’s capacity to produce liquid and powder polyols increased between 2022 and 2024.

The major investment of €25m by Roquette will establish a strong and reliable supply in the long run and will strengthen the company’s position as a leader in polyols.

Roquette remains deeply committed to upgrading its facilities, which is crucial in the challenging and fast-moving markets in which its customers operate. Investing in polyols was and is a strategic decision for the group to better address customers’ expectations over the long term.

According to Roquette, the site in Lestrem is the largest polyol plant in the world, offering a wide variety of products. This investment will improve equipment efficiency and increase safety standards. It will also help to standardise some industrial operations, contributing to an overall production performance improvement. Evolution of this kind also ensures a sustainable supply in the market and helps to meet customers’ increasing expectations for greater flexibility.

Key products for the pharma market

Polyols are fundamental excipients for the pharmaceutical industry. Thanks to Roquette’s superior quality standards, polyols are well-known and appreciated as excipients in oral dosage forms. They are directly compressible and aid the formulation of all types of tablets. Some polyols are adapted for swallowable, chewable, dispersible or effervescent tablet applications. The higher purity grades are also active pharmaceutical ingredients approved by worldwide drug administrations and widely used in injectable solutions or in dialysis applications.

In addition, polyols are essential ingredients for oral care applications, relying on key properties and functionalities such as non-crystallising humectants, non-cariogenic or shelf-life enhancers.

Thanks to Roquette’s superior quality standards, polyols are well-known and appreciated as excipients in oral dosage forms

Polyols for healthier and tasty food

The demand for nutritional solutions is dramatically increasing, driven by the fast-increasing trend for healthier lifestyles and more sustainable food. According to Euromonitor, the market for healthier food products is expected to grow by about 15% in value between 2021 and 2026.

Thanks to the nutritional benefits they offer, polyols are addressing this trend. Produced from plant-based raw materials such as maize or wheat, polyols are principally used as sugar alternatives in food products such as sugar-reduced or sugar-free confectionery, chocolate, chewing gum, baked goods or snacks. The numerous scientific publications on the nutritional benefits of polyols for the human body are evidence of the positive impact they have when it comes to a healthy and well-balanced diet.

Strengthened global industrial footprint

According to Pascal Leroy, senior vice-president of core ingredients at Roquette: “Today, Roquette is recognised as a global leader in polyols. We are uniquely positioned to address customers’ needs as we strive to be the best partner in the polyols markets, offering a wide range, very well-adapted to all markets and backed by a global network of service and technical assistance. Thanks to this investment, we will now strengthen the reliability of supply and our global industrial footprint.”

As a pioneer of plant proteins and a leading provider of pharmaceutical excipients, Roquette addresses current and future societal challenges by unlocking the potential of nature to offer the best ingredients for food, nutrition and health markets. The group is represented throughout Southern Africa by Azelis. •

Roquette’s site based in Lestrem, France is said to be the largest polyol plant in the world