OILS & FATS INTERNATIONAL
SEPT/OCT 2020 â–ª VOL 36 NO 7
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SPECIALITY FATS Pioneer in exotic butters
CULTURED FATS Towards sustainable meat
RENDERING Australia focus
Cover.indd 1
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Science behind Technology
CONTENTS
OILS & FATS INTERNATIONAL
IN THIS ISSUE – SEPT/OCT 2020
FEATURES
Instrumentation
36
Global round-up
OFI reports on latest instrumentation developments worldwide
Sustainability
18
Setting high standards In response to global demands for sustainable products, Malaysia is striving for countrywide certification of its entire palm oil industry
NEWS & EVENTS
Plant-Based Foods
Speciality Fats
Comment
40
22
Pioneer in exotic butters
Meat the future Oils and fats are used to add moisture and texture to plant-based foods, which are experiencing rising sales
32
10
WTO moves ahead with
Renewable News
12
The latest projects, technology and processing news globally
The Australian rendering industry is crucial in supporting the country’s global meat trade
Obesity nearly doubles risk of dying from COVID-19
Indonesia case against EU
Global round-up of projects
Australia focuses on global trade
4
Biofuel News
Plant & Technology
Rendering
Action on obesity
News
Cultured Fats
Manorama supplies speciality fats sourced from Indian butter seeds, such as sal and kokum, to confectionery and cosmetics firms worldwide
28
2
ADM, P2 Science in renewable venture
Transport News
42
Towards sustainable meat
14
Cultured fats can mimic the richness of animal fats in alternative meat products
Biotech News
15
First COVID-19 cases at port terminals in Argentina Yield10 to test gene-edited canola
Diary of Events
16
International events listing
Statistics
44
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Contents Sept.Oct.indd 1
World statistical data
OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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EDITOR'S COMMENT
OILS & FATS INTERNATIONAL
VOL 36 NO 7 SEPTEMBER/ OCTOBER 2020
Action on obesity A new World Bank study has shown that obesity essentially doubles a person’s risk of dying from COVID-19 (see p4).
EDITORIAL: Editor: Serena Lim serenalim@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855066 Assistant Editor: Gill Langham gilllangham@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855157 SALES: Sales Manager: Mark Winthrop-Wallace markww@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855114 Sales Consultant: Anita Revis anitarevis@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855068
The research looking at data from 75 studies for nearly 400,000 patients shows that obesity increases the risk of dying from COVID-19 by 48%, of hospitalisation by 113% and of being admitted to intensive care by 74%. “People who are obese are more likely to have other conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, which increases the risk of dying from COVID-19,” the British Heart Foundation writes in its Heart Matters magazine. The World Bank study also says that obesity-induced metabolic changes such as inflammation and the impaired ability to use insulin could interfere with the body’s ability to fight infections. Worryingly, vaccines are less effective in obese adults than in adults with a lower body mass index.
PRODUCTION: Production Editor: Carol Baird carolbaird@quartzltd.com CORPORATE: Managing Director: Tony Crinion tonycrinion@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855164 SUBSCRIPTIONS: Elizabeth Barford subscriptions@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855028 Subscriptions, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 1QX, UK © 2020, Quartz Business Media ISSN 0267-8853
Today, obesity is one of the world’s most blatantly visible – yet most neglected – public health problems, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). “The issue has grown to epidemic proportions, with over four million people dying each year as a result of being overweight or obese in 2017.” Globally, 1.9bn adults were overweight in 2016, 650M of them being obese, the WHO says. By 2025, it is estimated that one in five adults will be affected by obesity. One result of the COVID pandemic has been a change in eating behaviour which has led to some people gaining weight. This has included increased snacking, higher consumption of high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) foods, less physical activity, and strained supply chains leading to increased reliance on processed, long-life foods and less fresh fruit and vegetables, says the The World Obesity Federation (WOF).
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The federation says that social determinants are the root cause of health disparities and poor outcomes related to COVID-19. “Today, unhealthy diets are the leading underlying cause of death. Nutritional disparities are driven by socio-economic, educational and environmental factors. Among all five New York boroughs, the Bronx – a borough with high rates of obesity due to poverty and food insecurity – reports the highest hospitalisations and death rates from COVID-19,” the WOF says. Obesity occurs when someone takes in more calories than they burn through exercise and normal daily activities. And yet the reasons why those excess calories are consumed are a complex combination of genetic, behavioural, lifestyle and socio-economic factors. Addressing those factors is no easy task. But with COVID-19 lending urgency to the issue, the case for action on obesity has never been stronger. Serena Lim serenalim@quartzltd.com www.ofimagazine.com
15/09/2020 16:17:43
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NEWS IN BRIEF BRAZIL: Global derivatives and commodities exchange CME Group is planning to launch a South American Soybean (Platts) futures contract on 21 September which it said would offer a new tool to directly manage exposure to the Brazilian soyabean market. The new contract would be quoted in US dollars per tonne and be based on the SOYBEX price assessment published daily by S&P Global Platts, reflecting the FOB value of soyabeans from the port of Santos in Brazil. It would track the export price and the basis to US soyabeans, allowing participants to trade between these key regions.
Obesity nearly doubles risk of dying from COVID A new study suggests obesity increases the risk of dying from COVID-19 by 48% and may make vaccines against the disease less effective, News Medical reported on 26 August. The joint project by the University of North Carolina (UNC), World Bank and Saudi Health Council looked at data from 75 studies around the world involving nearly 400,000 patients. The team found that not only was the risk of death 48% higher for those who were obese (defined as those with a body mass index or BMI of over 30), but their chance of ending up in a hospital was 113% higher, and the likelihood of being admitted to intensive care was 74% higher. Published in the Obesity Reviews journal, the study noted that obesity-induced metabolic changes such as inflammation and the impaired ability to use insulin could interfere with the body’s ability to fight infections.
“Individuals with obesity are also more likely to experience physical ailments that make fighting this disease harder, such as sleep apnea, which increases pulmonary hypertension, or a BMI that increases difficulties in a hospital setting with intubation,” said Dr Melinda Beck from UNC. In another study, published in Diabetes Care, researchers also showed that predominantly black hospitalised COVID-19 patients with metabolic syndrome (a combination of obesity, hypertension, diabetes and abnormal cholesterol levels) were about five times more likely to be admitted to intensive care and require a ventilator. They were also 3.4 times more likely to die from their infections, News Medical reported. A third study published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal showed that higher levels of obesity were linked to the increased risk of contracting COVID-19.
US confectionery and snacks giant Mondelēz International will only accept palm oil that is ‘traceable’ and ‘forest-monitored’ from its supply chain from 2021, the company announced on 3 September. The owner of Oreo cookies and Cadbury chocolates said it expected that 80% of its palm oil would be sustainably sourced by first quarter 2021. The new requirements included traceability to plantation and satellite monitoring for all palm oil concessions and supplying mills attributed to the company. This was in line
Photo: Adobe Stock
Mondelēz sets out new palm oil sourcing requirements
Mondelez primarily produces snacks such as biscuits and chocolate
with the deforestation criteria set out in the company’s Palm
Oil Action Plan. In addition, suppliers would have to have
third-party assurance of their monitoring processes and be required to take action against exploitation of workers in the palm oil supply chain. Suppliers would need to confirm sustainable sourcing across their entire supply chain by 2025, not just the portion supplied to Mondelēz. “We have an opportunity to help create a future where sustainable practices are universal across the palm oil sector,” said Mondelēz chief procurement officer Quentin Roach. The group has operations in more than 80 countries.
USA to retain 25% tariffs on EU agricultural exports The USA will continue to impose a 25% tariff on agricultural exports from the EU, including packaged olive oils from Spain, following a review by the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Olive Oil Times reported on 18 August. The European Commission had called on the USA to lift the tariffs it had imposed last October, saying that the governments of Germany, France and Spain had fully complied with the requirements of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which had ruled that the three countries had provided illegal subsidies to 4 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The USTR had reviewed its US$7.5bn list of agricultural and industrial goods subject to tariffs and while it had removed some tariffs imposed on the UK and Greece, others had been added to products from Germany and France, Olive Oil Times said. Agricultural exports from the EU would also continue to face a 25% tariff but olive oil and table olive exports from the rest of the EU to the USA would remain unaffected, the USTR said. The decision was a relief for some in the
agricultural sector as they had feared that existing tariffs could be increased after the USTR had said it would revise the list in June, Olive Oil Times said. However, authorities in Spain had complained about the decision not to eliminate the duties saying it would have a ‘devastating’ impact on the economy. The EC had asserted that the US tariffs were groundless since Germany, France and Spain had agreed to modify their terms of financing for Airbus, according to WTO recommendations over the 16-year dispute with the USA.
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NEWS
ADM reduces stake in Wilmar
Global agribusiness giant ADM has reduced its stake in Asian agribusiness Wilmar in order to raise additional capital. The company said on 23 August that it had completed its secondary block trade of approximately US$550M in ordinary shares in Wilmar, retaining at least a 20% strategic ownership stake. “Wilmar – Asia’s leading agribusiness and packaged food oils company – is a strategic partner and one of ADM’s largest customers,” the company said. “We have no plans to sell additional Wilmar shares, and look forward to continuing our partnership for years to come,” ADM chairman and CEO Juan Luciano added. ADM said net proceeds from the sale would be used for general corporate purposes, which might include meeting working capital requirements, funding capital
expenditures and possible acquisitions or investments in businesses and assets, and acquiring outstanding shares of ADM common stock as part of its publicly announced stock repurchase programme. The partnership between the two companies started in the early 1990s when they jointly built a network of soyabean processing operations in China. Since 1994, ADM had been a significant investor in Wilmar. “Today, Wilmar is a key component of ADM’s strategy in emerging markets, including Asia Pacific; an important trade partner; and co-owner of joint venture Olenex, a major European provider of speciality oils,” ADM said. Singapore-based Wilmar has assets in soyabean crushing, edible oil refining and packaging, oil palm plantations, biodiesel production, speciality fats and oleochemical
fatty acids throughout Asia. In other news, Wilmar announced a 49% surge in first half net profits due to a recovery in Chinese demand following the COVID-19 pandemic, AgriCensus reported on 11 August. The group’s core net profits jumped to US$610.9M for the six-month period to June, with revenue 12% higher on the year at US$22.66bn. Wilmar CEO Kuok Khoon Hong said the company’s operations had not been ‘significantly impacted’ by the pandemic as the business was mainly focused on the production and distribution of essential food products. Over half of the group’s net profits had been generated by its Feed and Industrial Products segment – including its oilseed and palm oil trading operations – which reported a 105% surge in net profits.
New and ‘more targeted’ measures to contain the spread of Xylella fastidiosa in the European Union (EU) have been announced by the European Commission (EC), Olive Oil Times reported on 21 August. Xylella fastidiosa is a deadly bacterium that has killed millions of olive trees in southern Italy and is threatening those in Spain and Greece. Olive Oil Times said the EC decided to change the regulations, which came into force in 2015, based on the latest research from the European Food Safety Authority. One of the main changes was the reduction in the infection zone from a 100m radius of any infected plant to a 50m
Photo: Adobe Stock
EC announces new measures to combat Xf bacteria
The Xylella fastidiosa bacteria infects the vessels or xylem that transport water and nutrients around the olive tree, slowly choking the plant
radius. However, the definition of which plants should be uprooted in the infection zone had not changed substantially.
Olive Oil Times said farmers were expected to welcome the changes as many had argued that the original 100m zone
had led to the destruction of too many healthy trees. The new regulations also called on EU member states to ‘intensify’ their annual surveys to identify outbreaks more quickly. The EC also concluded that in specific areas, including southern Puglia, the French island of Corsica and Spain’s Balearic Islands, eradication of the disease was no longer feasible. Instead local authorities should concentrate their efforts on containment. If left unchecked, the EU feared Xylella fastidiosa would lead to an annual production loss of €5.5bn (US$6.5bn) and eliminate 300,000 jobs, Olive Oil Times said.
Favourable novel food opinion for rapeseed ingredient The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has ruled in favour of granting novel food authorisation for Avena Nordic Grain’s rapeseed-based plant protein and fibre powder, the company says. “Favourable opinion means that our BlackGrain from Yellow Fields product has been assessed safe by the authority,” said Avena R&D manager Kaisu Riihinen on 7 August. The company’s novel food application
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General News Sept.Oct.indd 3
BlackGrain had received approval from the EFSA as part of its novel food application process and the proposal would now move forward to the European Commission, which was expected to make a decision regarding the authorisation by the beginning of 2021. BlackGrain was made from oilseed expellers or meal, which was primarily used in animal feed applications, Avena said. “Through development, it can now be
used to make rapeseed powder suitable for human consumption,” Riihinen said. The company, part of Finnish group Apetit had tested and adapted the product for use in breads, cereal bars, snacks, granola, muesli, meat analogues and meatballs. Riihinen said BlackGrain was a three-inone combination of plant protein (33-43%), dietary fibre (33-43%) and encapsulated rapeseed oil (14.22%) which was vegan, gluten-, GMO- and soya-free. www.ofimagazine.com
10/09/2020 14:43:38
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NEWS IN BRIEF WORLD: Global agricultural commodity firm Glencore Agriculture has announced it will rebrand as Viterra in late 2020, World Grain reported on 20 August. Part of Glencore, Viterra operates a network of grain elevators, processing plants and port terminals across Canada and parts of the USA. “Viterra is a globally recognised brand within the business," Glencore said. "This is an opportunity to unite our business under one brand with a shared purpose and identity.”
COFCO partners IFC to improve sustainability China state-owned agribusiness COFCO International has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to improve soya sustainability, World Grain reported on 31 July. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, would support COFCO International’s subsidiary in Brazil to develop a more traceable and sustainable supply chain in the Matopiba region in the Cerrado savanna. The work would focus on
screening soya farms in Matopiba to ensure compliance with environmental and social criteria and build farmer capacity to apply more sustainable farming practices. Using farm contours, satellite imagery and other geographical information and official data, the screening’s aim was to guarantee that supplying farms were free from forced labour, were not located on indigenous land, conservation units
or embargoed areas, and were compliant with the Amazon Soy Moratorium. The project was expected to cover 85% of COFCO International Brazil’s direct suppliers in the Matopiba region by 2021, and to fully cover the region by 2023. COFCO was working towards achieving full traceability of all soya purchased directly from Brazilian farmers by 2023, World Grain said.
Global speciality oils and fats supplier Bunge Loders Croklaan (BLC) officially opened a shea butter processing facility in Tema, Ghana on 8 September. Operational since 2019, the facility was BLC’s first shea processing plant in Africa and the largest of its kind on the continent, the company said. A fully automated solvent fractionation plant, the facility processes raw shea butter made from locally collected and crushed shea nuts into two major products – shea olein and shea stearin. Shea stearin is further processed in BLC’s facilities in the Netherlands, Malaysia, Canada and the USA to produce ingredients for food and non-food
Photo: Adobe Stock
BLC opens first shea processing facility in Africa
The shea industry supports 16M women and their families in Africa
applications including cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs) used in chocolate confectionery. The opening of the Tema plant is part of BLC’s ‘Where Life Grows’ campaign to protect and advance the shea
supply chain in West Africa. BLC's shea sustainability programme which was set up three years ago to empower women collecting shea, create socio-economic value in their communities, and conserve
and regenerate the shea landscape in the region. In Africa, 16M women living in rural communities and their families depended on the shea industry to financially support their households, BLC said. Shea had become a vital ingredient in both food and non-food products, driving up demand for shea butter. “Our latest investment in Ghana plays a critical role in strengthening BLC’s global infrastructure for processing and supplying high-quality shea products to our customers around the world, while also bolstering the entire ecosystem of regional crushers and local shea collectors in the West African region,” BLC president Aaron Buettner said.
China set to buy record amount of US soyabeans in 2020 Lower prices look set to prompt China to buy a record amount of US soyabeans this year, sources were reported as saying by Bloomberg News on 26 August. The purchases would help boost pledges made under Beijing’s phase one trade deal with the USA. China would be likely to buy nearly 40M tonnes from the USA in 2020, about 25% more than when the trade war between the two countries began in July 2017 and 10% more than the record set in 2016, according to figures from the US Depart8 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
General News Sept.Oct.indd 4
ment of Agriculture (USDA). The country had been increasing purchases of US agricultural goods since the end of April, with soyabean sales for delivery next season running at their highest level for this time of the year since 2013, Bloomberg News said. China’s agriculture ministry was reported as saying that it expected soyabean imports to rise in the second half, including from the USA, following the implementation of the phase one trade deal. However, the 40M tonnes target for
2020 would still prove difficult to achieve, Darin Friedrichs, a senior analyst at StoneX Group in Shanghai, was quoted as saying. “I think 35M tonnes is probably more reasonable as peak monthly loadings during the fall have typically maxed out at around 7.5M to 8M tonnes/month from the USA to China,” he said. In August, the USA and China reconfirmed their commitment to the phase one deal despite tensions over issues ranging from data security to the future of democracy in Hong Kong, Bloomberg News reported. www.ofimagazine.com
10/09/2020 14:43:42
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BIOFUEL NEWS USA: US energy company Phillips 66 is planning to reconfigure its San Francisco refinery to produce renewable fuels, Biofuels Digest reported on 13 August. Following its revamp, the plant in Rodeo, California, would make fuels from used cooking oil, fats, greases and soyabean oils rather than from crude oil. The Phillips 66 Rodeo Renewed project would produce 3bn litres of renewable diesel, renewable gasoline, and sustainable jet fuel. Combined with the production of renewable fuels from another project in development, the plant would produce a total of more than 3.6bn litres of renewable fuels, Biofuels Digest said. FINLAND: Renewable diesel producer Neste reported a record sales volume of 773,000 tonnes in the second quarter of this year for its renewable products business, Biodiesel Magazine reported on 28 July. “Despite the market turbulence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Neste’s performance was solid during the second quarter,” Neste CEO Peter Vanacker said. The renewable products segment achieved €314M (US$396M) in operating profit in the second quarter, up from €286M (US$338M) in 2019. Neste’s renewable diesel plants operated at an average capacity rate of 90% during the quarter, down from 105% during the same quarter last year. During the second quarter, about 71% of renewable products sales volumes had been sold into the European market, up from 65% during the same period in 2019. Approximately 29% of sales volumes had been delivered to the North American market, down from 35%.
WTO moves ahead with Indonesia case against EU The World Trade Organization (WTO) has given Indonesia the go ahead to form a panel on its complaint against the European Union (EU)’s revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), the Jakarta Post reported on 3 August. “It follows a number of trade actions that the EU has taken against Indonesian biodiesel, including the first iteration of RED, its illegal imposition of anti-dumping duties, and new countervailing duties that were introduced at the end of last year,” Palm Oil Monitor co-host Khalil Hegarty wrote in the Jakarta Post. The EU published its revised RED II in December 2018, which comes into force on 1 January 2021 and covers the 2021-2030 period. RED II includes specific criteria for high-risk indirect land use change (ILUC) biofuels. The EU’s Delegated Regulation 2019/807, published in May 2019, determines what high-risk ILUC feedstocks are and only palm oil from large plantations has been classified as a high risk ILUC biofuel feedstock, which must be capped at 2019 levels until 2023,
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Biofuel news Sept.Oct.indd 2
and then phased out by 2030. Palm oil’s biggest producer Indonesia challenged the regulation at the WTO in December 2019, claiming the EU’s restrictions were unfair. In July, Malaysia, the world’s second largest palm oil producer, said it would be challenging the EU via the WTO’s dispute settle mechanism. As a sign of solidarity, Malaysia said it would act as a third party in Indonesia’s WTO case, The Straits Times said on 1 July. Indonesia and Malaysia produce 85% of the world’s palm oil. Meanwhile, Reuters reported Indonesia’s coordinating minister for economic affairs Airlangga Hartarto as saying on 30 July that the country’s 40% biodiesel blending programme (B40) was back on target for July 2021. In April, the Indonesian government had said it would be delaying the introduction of B40 due to COVID-19 and low crude petroleum oil prices but an improvement in crude oil prices meant the B40 plan could now go ahead, Reuters said.
Repsol produces first bio jet fuel batch in Spain
Photo: Asociación Aire
IN BRIEF
Spanish energy company Repsol has produced its first batch of bio jet fuel for the domestic market, the company announced on 3 August. The move was part of the company’s plan to double its production of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to 600,000 tonnes by 2030, half to be produced from waste before 2025. Produced at the company’s Puertollano Industrial Complex in Ciudad Real, the first batch comprised 7,000 tonnes of bio jet fuel, which Repsol said would prevent 440 tonnes of CO₂ emissions from being released into the atmosphere, the equivalent of 40 flights from Madrid to Barcelona. Production of the bio jet fuel would be extended to other Repsol facilities across Spain and the company said it would also develop alternatives aimed at producing jet fuel from waste.
Petrobras set to launch renewable diesel Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras says it is ready to produce renewable diesel from soya or other edible oils at commercial scale as soon as it gains regulatory approval, Reuters reported on 1 August. The company would expand its investment in the sector following approval from Brazil’s oil regulator ANP Petro-
bras, the company’s refining head Anelise Lara was quoted as saying to reporters. Petrobras had refined 2M litres of soyabean oil at one of its southern refineries, resulting in 40M litres of renewable diesel, Reuters said. The initiative was part of Petrobras’ climate strategy, which includes a target to
reduce the carbon intensity in the refining segment by 16% in the next five years. Soya was currently the feedstock for more than 70% of the biodiesel produced in Brazil and the introduction of a new type of fuel that could affect soya demand was controversial within the industry, Reuters said. www.ofimagazine.com
14/09/2020 11:02:31
RENEWABLE NEWS
Unilever to cut fossil fuels from products Global consumer goods giant Unilever will invest US$1.2bn to eliminate fossil fuels in its cleaning and laundry products by 2030, the company announced on 2 September. The Anglo-Dutch company said the move to use renewable or recycled carbon in its products would improve the sustainability of its cleaning and laundry brands including Omo (Persil), Sunlight, Cif and Domestos. Petrochemicals would be replaced with ingredients made from plants and marine sources such as algae. The announcement was the first phase
IN BRIEF WORLD: International beauty giant L’Oréal has developed a waterless sunscreen using liquid carnauba wax, Cosmetics Design-Europe reported on 13 August. The formulation comprised an oil-in-water carnauba wax, a silica aerogel and a UV filter system to overcome ‘current drawbacks’ associated with anhydrous sunscreens, the company was reported to have written in its international patent. It was designed to be used to make sunscreen products in a variety of forms, including lotions, milks, creams and foams. Current waterless sunscreen formulations were susceptible to oxidation when exposed to high temperatures due to the high fatty compound content, according to L’Oréal. This resulted in sensory changes to the product, including smell and colour, it said.
in Unilever’s ‘Clean Future’ initiative, which pledges net zero emissions from its products by 2039. Unilever said it had ring-fenced €1bn (US$1.2bn) for Clean Future, which was supporting global projects to transform how the chemicals in its cleaning and laundry products were made. “In Slovakia, for example, we are partnering with biotechnology leader Evonik Industries to develop the production of rhamnolipids, a renewable and biodegradable surfactant which is already used in our
Sunlight dishwashing liquid in Chile and Vietnam. “As an industry, we must break our dependence on fossil fuels, including as a raw material for our products,” added Unilever’s President of Home Care Peter ter Kulve. The Clean Future investment would finance biotechnology research, CO² and waste utilisation and low carbon chemistry, which would drive the transition away from fossil fuel-derived chemicals. The investment is in addition to Unilever’s new €1bn (US$1.2bn) Climate and Nature Fund.
BASF launches castor oil-based ingredient to stabilise hair and skin cleansing products German speciality chemicals company BASF has launched a product for the stabilisation of ingredients in skin and hair cleansing formulations that is derived entirely from natural feedstock, the company announced on 6 August. Acting as a natural structure enhancer in surfactant-based systems, BASF said Lamesoft Balance was biodegradable and stabilised wax-based dispersions in hair and skin cleansing products even in low viscosity formulations. Due to its composition of hydrogenated castor oil and alkyl polyglycosides (APGs), the new product was cold processable and easy to formulate, BASF said. “The stabilisation of fine particle wax dispersions in rinse-off applications is often very challenging,” said Dr Hans-Martin Haak, BASF Personal Care’s head of market development for
BASF’s Lamesoft Balance is based on hydrogenated castor oil and alkyl polyglycosides Photo: Adobe Stock
hair, body, oral care. “With Lamesoft Balance BASF now offers a solution that is readily biodegradable and helps manufacturers of skin and hair cleansing products to stabilise their formulations without using synthetic polymers. The product is also suitable for alternative surfactant systems.” Performance and sensory
tests had shown that the product enhanced the foam properties in body wash formulations and provided a pleasant skin feeling, BASF said. In shampoo formulations containing cationic conditioning agents, it had proven to significantly boost the hair conditioning effect, the company said.
ADM and P2 Science to develop plant-based products Global agribusiness giant ADM and renewable chemicals company P2 Science will develop a set of plant-based products in a joint development agreement, Perfumer & Flavorist reported on 29 July. The agreement follows a memorandum of understanding they signed in January. The first products to be developed would be renewable terpene monomers and polymers, mid-chain fatty alcohols and
12 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
Renewable news Sept.Oct.indd 2
acids, polyesters, polyamides, plasticisers and surfactants, Perfumer & Flavorist said. Some of the markets for the new products included cosmetics, skincare, clothing, personal care and industrial cleaning. “We are pleased that our collaboration has homed in so quickly on some key product and market areas, including developing advanced renewable alternatives to traditional silicone products,” said P2 Science
CEO Neil Burns. “One area, the strengthening and broadening of the terpene supply chain to support growth of our Citropol renewable liquid polymer products, will help us further penetrate the cosmetic and other markets for this platform.” ADM’s plant-based products portfolio included vegetable oils, terpenes, carbohydrates and advanced processes and fermentation technology, Perfumer & Flavorist said.
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TRANSPORT NEWS IN BRIEF RUSSIA: The NZT, NKHP and KSK terminals – the largest in the Novorossiysk export hub on the Russian Black Sea – will increase their grain elevation costs by US$3/tonne starting from 1 October, AgriCensus reported on 20 August. This would add about 20% to the current transshipment rate of around US$15-16/tonne. AgriCensus said terminals were expecting a potential increase in grain shipments given higher crop outlooks, and the opportunity to boost profit margins. SPAIN: DBA Bilbao Port is planning to build a new terminal in the port of Bilbao for the storage of renewable energy, Biofuels Digest reported on 9 July. The terminal would be used for the storage of bioethanol, biodiesel, HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) and hydrocarbons on the 46,000m² site next to the company’s existing facilities in Puna Sollana (Zierbena).The US$47.3M project would expand the storage capacity at the port by 500% to 315,000m³, Biofuels Digest said.
First Covid cases at port terminals in Argentina The first cases of COVID-19 at Argentine port terminals that ship soyabean meal and oil have been recorded, MercoPress reported on 29 July. China’s state-owned food company COFCO International, US-based agribusiness Bunge and local soya crusher Vicentin had reported cases among employees at plants north of Rosario on the Paraná River. COFCO had halted work at an oilseed crushing plant and port facility after 12 workers tested positive for the virus while Bunge had stopped operations at a similar nearby facility after one employee tested positive, MercoPress said. A Vicentin bottling plant in the vicinity had also been temporarily closed after reporting one case. During the temporary closure of COFCO’s Timbúes plant, the firm had been directing car-
goes to its Puerto General San Martin terminal and facilities run by other companies, according to a company spokesperson. Bunge had also been redirecting trucks to other facilities after its Puerto General San Martin terminal and crush plant were idled, a spokesperson said. A worker at Argentinian soyabean processor Renova had tested positive earlier in the year but had been quickly isolated and no more cases had been reported at Renova’s two plants in the same area north of Rosario, Vicentin’s spokesperson said. Sixty workers from plant-port facilities around Rosario had also been self-isolating, according to Gustavo Idigoras, head of Argentina’s crop export and crush group Ciara-Cec, whose members include the global agribusiness giants.
Paraguay to move 100 soyabean barges A total of 100 Paraguayan barges carrying 120,000 tonnes of soyabeans were expected to complete shipments to ports in Argentina and Uruguay by 10 September due to improved water levels on the Paraná River, the head of Paraguay’s maritime and shipping chamber CAFyM told AgriCensus. Following the shipments, some 500,000 tonnes of beans would still be trapped in ports and storage facilities across
the country, CAFyM head Juan Carlos Munoz said. The government was considering releasing more water from the Itaipu Dam to improve water levels on the river although this had not been decided yet, he added. Paraguayan exporters usually shipped nearly 30% of total soyabean exports via this section of the Paraná River, which had been affected by low water levels since April. Barges are used
to ship soyabeans to ports in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Soyabeans that could not be shipped by barges had to be transported via lorries, resulting in higher logistics costs, AgriCensus said. Paraguay produced 10.6M tonnes of soyabeans in 2019/ 20 and exported 4.76M tonnes between January and July, a 15.6% increase against the same period in 2019, the AgriCensus report said.
Canadian grain handling company Viterra is building a new high throughput grain terminal in Canada, World Grain reported on 17 July. The facility in Rosser, Manitoba, would have a total storage capacity of 34,000 tonnes and had an expected completion date of autumn 2021, World Grain said. Viterra is part of Glencore Agriculture, a global leader in handling and processing agricultural commodities. Viterra operates a network of grain elevators, processing plants and port terminals across Canada and parts of the USA. It stores,
14 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
Transport news Sept.Oct.indd 2
Viterra stores, ships and processes oilseeds, and produces canola oil and meal in Canada and the USA
ships and processes oilseeds and grains. In Canada, its Sainte-Agathe, Manitoba plant produces canola oil and meal while its Bécancour, Quebec
facility is the largest oilseed processing plant in Eastern Canada, producing vegetable oil and meal. In the USA at Warden,
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Canada’s Viterra to build new terminal in Manitoba Washington, Viterra operates the largest expeller-press canola processing facility in North America. • In other news, Glencore Agriculture has acquired a port terminal in Ukraine from the Orexim Group of Companies, World Grain reported on 1 September. The Everi vegetable oil export terminal in Mykolai offered storage and loading services. Built in 2010 and expanded in 2018, the terminal had a storage capacity of 160,000 tonnes with the capacity to load up to 1.5M tonnes/year of vegetable oil for export.
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10/09/2020 11:12:53
BIOTECH NEWS
Yield10 to test gene-edited canola US agricultural bioscience company Yield10 Bioscience announced on 17 August that it had obtained a positive response from the USDA-APHIS’s Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) for its CRISPR genome-edited C3007 trait in canola plant lines developed for increased oil content. “Confirmation of the regulatory status of the plants will enable us to conduct field tests of CRISPR genome-edited canola plants in the USA in the 2021 growing season,” the company said. Yield10 said the USDA-APHIS response confirmed that canola plant lines con-
taining the C3007 trait did not meet the definition of a regulated article under rules which restrict the introduction of GMOs believed to be plant pests. Clarification of the regulatory status was a “major milestone in the development programme to produce new varieties of canola with a higher oil content,” said Yield10 chief science officer Kristi Snell. The company explained that the protein encoded by C3007 was a novel, negative regulator of the enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase), the key enzyme for producing fatty acids for oil biosynthesis.
In pilot studies, reducing the activity of the protein encoded by C3007 resulted in significantly increased oil content in seeds. Yield10 and plant genetic specialist GDM have also signed a research agreement to evaluate novel soyabean yield traits, Biofuels Digest reported on 16 August. Under the agreement, GDM planned to work with Yield10’s soyabean R&D programme to improve yield performance and sustainability. The programme’s first phase would include three novel crop yield traits, with the potential to expand the research to more traits in the future.
Judge casts doubt on Bayer's Roundup deal 125,000 claims in the USA over the Roundup weedkiller it had inherited after buying US agrochemical group Monsanto for US$63bn in 2018. At a hearing on 27 August, US district judge Vince Chhabria said he was concerned that Bayer had ‘manipulated’ the settlement process and might
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German chemical giant Bayer’s efforts to settle US lawsuits claiming its glyphosate weedkiller causes cancer faced a setback after a judge raised concerns over its US$10.9bn deal, Bloomberg News reported on 27 August. Bayer had announced the deal in June to settle around
allow the plaintiffs’ litigation process to restart, putting the whole deal under threat. Glyphosate is the world’s most widely used herbicide and Roundup is used in combination with Bayer’s genetically modified seeds, including soyabeans and corn, which are resistant to it.
IN BRIEF CANADA: Health Canada has approved Nuseed America’s proprietary DHA refined canola oil for human consumption,which is derived from canola genetically engineered to produce higher levels of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), Nutra Ingredients reported on 31 July.
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Biotech news.indd 2
OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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15/09/2020 09:03:17
DIARY OF EVENTS
Virtual POC2020 on 14-15 October
25-26 February 2021 OFIC 2021 Hotel Istana Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia http://mosta.org.my/events/ ofic-2021/ 23-24 March 2021
Bursa Malaysia Derivatives (BMD) is proud to present the inaugural Virtual Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook & Exhibition 2020 (Virtual POC2020) on 14-15 October. “This virtual event is designed as an all-inone digital platform for the exchange of ideas, solutions and trends within the international oils and fats industry,” the organisers say. “It enables delegates to connect from anywhere, any time, to gain the latest market insights from industry experts, as well as oils and fats players to promote their brand, products and services directly to their target audience amid current restrictions on travel and mass gatherings. 29-30 September 2020 2020 NIOP Oilseed Industry Training (OIT) (Online) https://niop.org/eventstraining/oilseed-industrytraining-2020/ 6-7 October 2020 Oleofuels 2020 Marseille France www.wplgroup.com/aci/ event/oleofuels/
“Join us at Virtual POC2020 for opportunities to expand your business network and position your company among top industry leaders,” say the organisers. The annual POC event normally held every March in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is one of the leading industry shows in the oils and fats calendar but was cancelled this year due to uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. For further information on Virtual POC2020, please contact: Virtual POC2020 Secretariat E-mail: info@pocmalaysia.com Website: www.pocmalaysia.com
2-6 November 2020
7-9 December 2020
North American Renderers Association Annual Convention 2020 The Ritz Carlton, Naples, Florida, USA https://convention.nara.org/
10th International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts (AlgaBBB 2020) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA www.elsevier.com/events/ conferences/internationalconference-on-algal-biomassbiofuels-and-bioproducts
9-11 November 2020
Virtual POC2020 (Online) www.pocmalaysia.com
Virtual Roundtable Conference On Sustainable Palm Oil 2020 (Online) www.rspo.org/newsand-events/events/ save-the-date-virtualroundtable-conference-onsustainable-palm-oil-2020
22-23 October 2020
10-12 November 2020
7th High Oleic Oils Congress Toulouse France http://higholeicmarket.com/ hoc-2019/
ICIS Asian & Indian Surfactants Virtual Conference (Online) www.icisevents.com/ ehome/index. php?eventid=200176800&
14-15 October 2020
26-28 October 2020 ICIS European Surfactants Virtual Conference (Online) https://eu.eventscloud.com/ ehome/surfactants/europeansurfactants-virtual
11-12 November 2020 Nordic Lipid Forum (Webinar) https://lipidforum.info/nordiclipid-forum-seminar-2020/
16 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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Biofuels International Conference & Expo Brussels, Belgium www.biofuels-news.com/ conference/biofuels/biofuels_ index_2020.php 14-16 March 2021 87th NIOP Annual Convention JW Marriott Starr Tucson, Arizona, USA https://niop.org/86thannual-conventionmarch-14-16-2021/ 29-31 March 2021 World Bio Markets The Netherlands www.worldbiomarkets.com 20-22 April 2021 12th Palmex Indonesia 2021 Santika Premiere Dyandra Hotel and Convention Medan, Indonesia http://palmoilexpo.com/ 2-5 May 2021
Palmex Thailand 2020 ICC Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand http://thaipalmoil.com
AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo Portland, Oregon USA www.aocs.org/attendmeetings/industry-events
27-29 January 2021
4-8 October 2021
Globoil India 2020 Taj Convention Centre Goa, India www.globoilindia.com
oils+fats Munich 2021 Messe Munich Germany www.oils-and-fats.com/ index.html
15-16 December 2020
February 2021 Future of Surfactants Summit Boston, USA www.wplgroup.com/aci/ event/surfactants-summitamerica/
17-20 October 2021 EuroFed Lipid Congress, Expo Leipzig Germany www.eurofedlipid.org
Information correct at time of going to press For a full events list, visit: www.ofimagazine.com www.ofimagazine.com
10/09/2020 11:24:16
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SUSTAINABILITY
In response to global demand for sustainable products, Malaysia is striving for countrywide certification of its entire palm oil industry Gill Langham As the world’s second largest producer of palm oil with an output of some 19M tonnes/year, Malaysia has developed its own national scheme to ensure that its entire palm oil chain is sustainable. The Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Certification Scheme was launched in 2013, introduced on a voluntary basis in 2015, and made mandatory for all plantations and processing facilities on 1 January this year. “We wanted a game-changing initiative to ensure that the entire Malaysian palm oil supply chain meets growing requirements for sustainability and, at the same time, move to be better managed, accountable, responsible and transparent,” Minister of Primary Industries Teresa Kok told the Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) Forum in Kuala Lumpur last November. Almost 85% of the palm oil the country produces is now CSPO. While this achievement was commendable, Kok said, further efforts were needed to achieve 100% certification for the industry. 18 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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Setting high standards What is MSPO?
The MSPO Certification Scheme is a national programme for oil palm plantations, independent and organised smallholdings, and palm oil milling and processing facilities. The scheme’s owner and governing body is the Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC). The MSPO framework comprises seven principles that address the legal, environmental, social and economic aspects of palm oil production; cultivation and processing methods; protection of forests and wildlife; safeguarding of workers’ welfare and safety; and provision of a minimum living wage. By using a system of independent certification, the auditing of all field practices and milling operations is verified against a set of auditable standards. Kok told the CSPO Forum last year that the MSPO scheme had provided a host of benefits including enhanced productivity through optimised yields with the application of good agricultural practices,
while meeting the principles of the United Nation’s sustainable development goals. “This translates to higher income and enhances the welfare of stakeholders in the industry, including indigenous communities who, together with other smallholders, account for close to 40% of the total oil palm planted area in Malaysia.”
Capping of land expansion
Currently, Malaysia’s total oil palm planted area stands at 5.9M hectares (17% of land area) and accounts for 0.11% of the world’s total global agricultural area, according to the MPOCC. In 2019, the government capped the land for oil palm cultivation at 6.5M ha and Malaysia has reiterated its commitment made at the Rio Summit in 1992 to retain at least 50% of its land area under forest cover. The country’s forest cover currently stands at 54.6% of its total land area. The MPOCC says that while the palm oil industry has been accused u of wanton expansion, the palm oil
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u
u industry is committed to improvements in productivity and yields, rather than the expansion of planted areas. Future replanting programmes will be focused on productivity and yields, rather than expanding land for cultivation to avoid deforestation and direct or indirect land use change.
Highly regulated industry
In addition to the capping of land for oil palm cultivation, Malaysia’s palm oil industry is also governed by more than 60 laws and regulations including the Land Acquisition Act 1960, National Land Code 1965, Environmental Land Conservation Act 1960 revised in 1989, Environment Quality Act 1975, Pesticides Rules 1988, Occupational Safety and Health Act 1977, and Labour Law and Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. There are also 25 licensing categories throughout the oil palm industry’s supply chain to ensure it meets the requirements set out under Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) rules and regulations.
Looking ahead
Since it was made mandatory on 1 January 2020, the MSPO certification scheme requires all industry players, including smallholders, to obtain certification as a requirement to renew their business operation licences.
Challenges
Potential Solutions
Limited suitable agriculture area
Increase in productivity through R&D/ use of high yield planting materials
Dependency on foreign migrant workers and shortage of workers
Automation, mechanisation, robotics, artificial intelligence
Price premium for certified produce
Incentives for production of certified sustainable palm oil
Low smallholder productivity and income
Replanting with high yielding planting materials/improved agronomic practices
Smallholder crops sold through traders and collection centres
Fair price dealings/capacity building programmes at mills and larger plantations
Business as usual is not acceptable
Innovative approaches needed, including linking market buyers with smallholders
Insecure land tenure of smallholders
Legalise the land tenure/improved mapping for transparency and traceability
Over capacity of processed palm oil
Greater value added downstream processing locally
Table 1: Key challenges and solutions for the Malaysian palm oil sector While it is still a big challenge to ensure the whole industry achieves full certification as many issues remain, especially for independent smallholders, Malaysia is committed to ensuring full
Growing market for sustainable palm oil
There has been an increasing global trend for sustainable palm oil consumption, according to research by Rabobank. According to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), 14.3M tonnes of RSPO-certified palm oil were produced globally in 2019. However, only 49% (7.06M tonnes) was sold worldwide. “Even though the consumption of RSPO-certified palm oil could still be increased globally, we have seen an increasing RSPO-certified palm oil consumption trend in the past five years,” said Oscar Tjakra, executive director RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness. In 2019, 54% of RSPO-certified palm oil sales were in the Segregated (SG) and Identity Preserved (IP) models, Tjakra explained. “We expect that more RSPO-certified palm oil sales progress towards the SG and IP models, as consumers demand greater transparency. This will motivate food manufacturers to review their suppliers in order to better understand what volumes and palm oil products are available and whether there are associated premiums.” Food manufacturers could potentially reduce sourcing costs by partnering with offtakers to build a sufficient volume for their suppliers to change their sourcing strategies, and consequently shorten and increase the transparency of the palm oil value chain, he said. Palm oil consumption in the USA was the subject of a 2019 Rabobank report titled A Piece of the Pie: Opportunities for Continued Growth of Non-Soy Edible Oils in the US. According to the report, palm oil imports to the USA had increased by a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 17.2% between 2003 and 2018 to reach 1.5M tonnes. Around 57% of the palm oil and palm oil derivatives that were consumed in the USA in 2017 had been certified, a decrease from 63% in 2013, Rabobank said. However, the increasing demand for palm oil in the USA provided opportunities to increase demand for CSPO (Certified Sustainable Palm Oil), according to the report. 20 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
Sustainability REVISED.indd 3
Source: Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council
SUSTAINABILITY
industry compliance, the MPOCC says. “Many smallholders do not have the financial muscle to initiate audit and certification on their own,” Kok said, while some remained unaware of the benefits of certification. At the end of 2019, only 28.5% or 474,505ha of Malaysia’s smallholder planted area of some 1.6M ha had been MSPO certified, Kok told the CSPO Forum. Because smallholders need more time, resources and technical support to meet certification requirements, the timeline for MSPO compliance has been extended to 2021, the MPOCC says. And in line with good practices, the MSPO standards are currently being reviewed by relevant economic, environmental and social stakeholders including government agencies, industry players (both upstream and downstream), smallholder organisations, environmental NGOs, civil societies, indigenous people’s organisations, workers unions and academia/research and development institutions. The MPOCC says continued implementation of the MSPO standards will be achieved through broad stakeholder consultations; capacity building of Accredited Certification Bodies and peer reviewers; active engagement with smallholders and the industry; and further strengthening of the mandatory implementation of the standards. ● Gill Langham is the assistant editor of OFI
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OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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SPECIALITY FATS
Pioneer in exotic butters India’s Manorama Industries supplies speciality fats sourced from tree-borne butter seeds, such as sal and kokum, to leading confectionery and cosmetics brands worldwide Serena Lim It might be surprising for consumers buying a skin cream from L’Oréal or a chocolate from Ferrero Rocher to discover that a key ingredient in them may have been supplied by a little-known company in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. That company – Manorama Industries – supplies cocoa butter alternatives or speciality fats to some of the biggest players in the confectionery, chocolate and cosmetic markets. "We are the only company in the world that sources sal, mango kernel, mowrah and kokum seeds, plus shea nuts from West Africa, and exports exotic speciality fats and shea- and sal- based cococa butter equivalents," says president Ashish Saraf. The exotic butter seeds are picked from trees or collected from forest floors by the firm’s network of tribal communities. “Manorama pioneered the use of seeds extracted from the fruits lying on the forest floor, which otherwise would have become forest waste,” says chairman K N Agrawal. “We have millions of tribal people – the majority of them women – spread across various states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha collecting seeds,” adds Saraf. While the raw materials that Manorama sources come mostly from the forests across five Indian states, the company’s speciality fats find their way to countries worldwide including Australia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UK and the USA. Among its list of customers are Italy’s Ferrero and Unigra; France’s Olvea 22 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
Speciality fats.indd 2
Manorama has a network of mostly women collecting tree-borne butter seeds from forest floors spread across various Indian states Photo: Manorama Industries
Vegetables Oils; Germany’s Walter Rau; Japan’s Fuji Oil, Adeka Corp and Mitsui, and Mondelez International. It also supplies cosmetics companies including the Body Shop, L’Oréal, ActivOn, Naturasante LeafMotiv, Gustav Hess, Hallstar, Jedward International, Stearinerie Dubois, FILS and the Kerfoot Group. Exports account for around 43% of Manorama’s sales and increased by 58.45% in the company's 2019/20 financial year. Along with Indian tree-borne butter seeds, Manorama also sources palm kernel oil (PKO) and palm mid fractions (PMF) from Malaysia, and shea nuts from West Africa, through Manorama Africa Ltd (MAL). Located in Tema, Ghana, MAL procures shea nuts in Ghana and also purchases shea nuts from Benin, Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast, Mali and Togo. In addition, Manorama plans to set up shea processing facilities in Africa to process larger volumes of shea nuts and to make its African operations a 100% subsidiary.
Cocoa butter alternatives
According to Manorama's 2019/20 annual report, worldwide consumption of chocolates is growing and global market leaders include Ferrero, Hershey, Lindt & Sprüngli, Mars, Mondelēz and Nestlé. Europe is the largest regional consumer with 11kg/capita of annual consumption.
Cocoa butter accounts for around 20% of chocolate by volume but 80% of the value, Manorama says. “If 5% of cocoa butter is replaced by a cheaper equivalent, raw material costs will reduce significantly by 6-8%. This would result in a massive cost saving for chocolate manufacturers.” This is why speciality fats or cocoa butter alternatives, which cost around half the price of cocoa butter, are used in an extensive range of bakery, chocolate, confectionery and ice cream products. Manorama says the speciality fats and butter market is expected to set a CAGR of 6.6% (2018–2026) to reach a market value of US$142.1bn by 2026, with high growth expected in the AsiaPacific region. India is also one of the most important CBE markets, with a likely projected consumption of nearly 20,000 tonnes by 2022. "The Indian chocolate market has seen a gradual shift in consumer preference from traditional Indian sweets to contemporary substitutes, of which chocolates are a prominent one. Six of the top 10 global chocolate manufacturers have already entered the Indian chocolate market," Manorama says in its annual report. "Moulded chocolates continue to be the favourite due to their rich taste and ease of availability in neighbourhood kirana shops and convenience stores. "The increasing tradition of chocolate www.ofimagazine.com
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Process Chart gifting and the fear of adulteration in traditional sweets is also expected to be a major driver for the speciality fats industry." India approved the 5% use of cocoa butter equivalents based on sal, mango and kokum in chocolate in January 2018 and Manorama says it is confident that the government will increase this 5% limit, spurring further industry growth.
Unique chemical composition
Cocoa butter has unique chemical and physical properties which endow chocolates with special edible qualities. It remains hard and brittle at 30˚C and yet melts fully at 35˚C. This rapid transformation is due to cocoa butter’s unique chemical composition, which contains a high proportion of saturated fats, as well as monounsaturated oleic acid. Cocoa butter comprises about 80% symmetrical triglycerides. These are palmitic-oleic-palmitic (POP); palmiticoleic-stearic (POS); and stearic-oleicstearic (SOS) triglycerides. However, as well as its high cost, cocoa butter also has a low milk fat tolerance, lacks stability at elevated temperatures and has a tendency to bloom due to improper storage or age, giving chocolate a whitish appearance on the surface. Cocoa butter alternatives can improve the physical properties of the fat fraction in chocolate. There are three types of cocoa butter alternatives or speciality fats – cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs), cocoa butter substitutes (CBSs) and cocoa butter replacers (CBRs).
Raw Materials Sal / Mango / Shea / Illipe & Other Exotic Seeds
Raw Materials Shea / Illipe Expeller
Crude Oil
Cake
Refinery Process
Refined Butter (NBD Butter)
Fractionation Process Palm Mid Fraction (PMF)
CBE (Cocoa Butter Equivalent)
Blending Process
Stearin
Olein
Figure 1: Manorama’s production process for speciality fats in tropical and subtropical countries due to their better heat stability compared to pure chocolate.
Cocoa Butter Substitutes (CBSs) are produced by static dry fractionation and total hydrogenation of good-quality palm kernel stearine. They are a nontempering fat with a very sharp melt profile and a high heat cycling stability, melting at around 34˚C with low viscosity in the molten state. Due to the high solid fat content, CBSs have excellent snap, brittleness and good flavour release. They are a choice ingredient for manufacturing moulded chocolates which require tempering. In addition, CBSs are preferred
Cocoa Butter Improvers (CBIs) or Extenders can be formulated from Indian exotic fats to resemble cocoa butter in both physical and chemical properties and are used to increase the hardness of chocolate. They are compatible with cocoa butter and share a similar crystallisation and melt profile. CBIs can be used as a replacement for cocoa butter at any ratio, with added heat resistance and melting characteristics. They can be used to increase the heat-resistant properties of cocoa and chocolate.
Speciality fats.indd 3
De-oiled Cake (Cattle Feed)
Byproducts / Gums
Cocoa Butter Replacers (CBRs) are a confectionery fat formulated from fractionated vegetable fats. They can be used to impart gloss retention and a sharp meltdown to the final product without tempering, and have a high tolerance (up to 20%) for cocoa butter. A CBR can be mixed with cocoa liquor to produce a compound chocolate. CBRs are mainly used in compound coatings and can be used in combination with cocoa butter to product compounds suitable for both coatings and moulding.
Solvent Extraction Process
Crude Oil
Cocoa Butter Equivalents (CBEs) are Manorama’s core product. CBEs behave like cocoa butter in all respects and are able to mix with cocoa butter in any proportion without altering the melting rheological and processing characteristics of cocoa butter. The principle advantages of incorporating CBEs are the reduction in production costs as CBEs are cheaper than cocoa butter. CBEs also offer improved milk fat tolerance and improved stability of chocolates in tropical climates.
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Raw Materials Sal / Mango / Others
Source: Manorama Industries
read ustries
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20
SPECIALITY FATS
13
Filling fats can be made from lauric and non-lauric sources and are produced by fractionation and hydrogenation. Filling fats melt in the mouth at body temperature, which helps enhance the creamy flavour of confectionery items. That is why they are often added as a filling in cookies, wafers, chocolates, bakeable fillings, spreads and dressings.
Expanding capacity
Manorama manufactures its speciality fats at its plant in Birkoni, near Raipur, Chhattisgarh, close to its sourcing centres. It has expanded production capacity with the setting up of a fully integrated plant that incorporates crushing, extraction, refining, fractionation, interesterification and blending. The company now has annual capacities of 15,000 tonnes in refining, 15,000 tonnes in fractionation, 15,000 tonnes in interesterification, 15,000 tonnes in deodorisation, 30,000 tonnes for packing and blending, and 60,000 tonnes for seed milling. A second phase solvent extraction plant has also been proposed for 2021. "The key process of fractionation commercially started in March 2020. With this achievement, we expect to achieve optimum production levels in 2020/21." u OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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of the model have continuously been adapted to meet our stakeholders’ needs.”
SPECIALITY FATS
Sustainable Tree-Borne Seed Supply Chain Mango butter or mango kernel fat
Assam West Bengal Jharkhand Chhattisgarh Maharashtra
Orissa
Goa Karnataka
u
Raw material supply
Manorama sources its raw materials mainly from the central and western areas of India (see map, above).
Photo: Manorama Industries
Sal butter
The sal tree (Shorea robusta) grows in the evergreen regions of central India, which has the largest sal forests in the world. Sal forests occupy around 116,000km2 or 14% of India’s total forest area. The sal fruit contains seeds which have around a 14%-15% butter content. The collectable potential amount of sal butter is about 125,000-150,000 tonnes/year. Sal fat is greenish brown in colour and its typical fatty acid composition is C16 (4%), C18 (47%), C18:2 (0.5%) and C20 (2.8%). A 2-stage acetone fractionation process gives a sal mid-fraction (45% yield). Sal fat is used as a CBE and CBI in confectionery, and in products such as cosmetics, coatings and fillings. Sal stearine is fractionated from sal fat and be used as a CBE and CBR. It is harder than cocoa butter and is used in the manufacture of plain chocolates. Sal oleine is liquid at room temperature and effective as an emollient, finding use in skincare products and other cosmetics. It can be interesterified with hard fat to produce a zero trans fat for ice-creams, bakery products and hydrogenated vanaspati. 24 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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Photo: Adobe Stock
Bihar
Photo: Adobe Stock
Nepal
Photo: Manorama Industries
Uttarakhand
Madhya Pradesh
The lemon-sized dark purple fruits are beaten with sticks to separate the rind from the seeds, which account for 2023% of the fruit’s weight. On average, a tree yields 60-80kg of seeds. The yield of kokum butter from kokum seed kernels is about 32-35%. It is a semi-deciduous, gregarious tree, The fat is produced from the seeds after usually with a height of 18-30 feet, which crushing in a solvent extraction plant. grows mainly in moist evergreen regions Refined fat is obtained after conventional of India which covers 14% of the total chemical refining. Kokum fat increases the hardness forest area spread across the states of of chocolates and is used in various Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, West confectioneries. It is a very important Mango butter or mango kernel fat Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Assam component for fillings and is used as an is obtained from and Bihar. the seed kernels of alternative fat in cosmetics. It is also used mangoes, a seasonal fruit available from in the manufacture of soap, cosmetics, June-July. At 5M tonnes/years, India candles and ointments. When mixed with is one of the world’s largest mangomowrah stearine and palm mid fractions, producing countries and the potential kokum fat can be used to produce CBEs. availability of mango kernels is around Kokum butter has a fatty acid 500,000 tonnes, which can yield about www.manoramagroup.co.in 43 composition of C16 (3.4%), C18 (67.4%), 40,000 tonnes of mango kernel fat. C18:1 (28.1%), C18:2 (0.6%) and C20 Manorama collects mango kernels (0.3%). It has a very high symmetrical through its supplier network across states SOS content (83.4%), allowing direct including Chhattisgarh, Maddhya Pradesh blending with palm mid-fractions without and Odisha but is looking at sourcing fractionation for preparing CBEs. the kernel from the Indian pulp industry, where mango seeds are considered a Mowrah/Mahua butter waste product. The mango seed has a white kernel, which contains 7-11% of greyish-white fat. The fat is solid, closely resembling cocoa butter in physical and chemical characteristics, and is therefore used as a CBE or cocoa butter extender. Refined mango butter is suitable as a confectionery fat and in cosmetic formulations. The major fatty acids in mango fat are oleic (33-53%) and stearic (24-49%) but the fatty acid composition varies considerably due to the wide variety of The mowrah or mahua (Madhuca latifolia) mangoes grown in India. tree is commonly found in Central and Mango stearine is produced by solvent South India and the monsoon forest of the or dry fractionation of mango butter and Western Ghats mountain range. is mainly used in CBEs and CBRs. The mahua fruit is rich in sugar (73% Mango olein is also produced by solvent content) and can be used to manufacture or dry fractionation of mango butter and jam or fermented to produce an alcoholic is mainly used by the cosmetics industry. drink. The orange-brown berry contains one to four seeds, which can be separated Kokum/Dhupa butter from the fruit wall by pressing. Each seed contains two kernels, and the kernels contain about 50% butter. The estimated potential of mowrah kernels is 1.11M tonnes, and the possible butter potential is 400,000 tonnes, assuming an average 36% yield. Mahua seeds contain 35% butter, which is solid at ambient temperature. Depending on the application, the crude fat is refined in different ways. For CBS and cosmetic uses, the fat is refined by conventional chemical refining. For use The kokum (Garcinia Indica) or dhupa tree in vanaspati, it is physically refined by an is found in the evergreen forests of India's expelling process. Mowrah butter is used u Western Ghats mountain range.
Sal (Shorea Robusta) is the most famous of all the species of Shorea (Dipterocarpacceae) abundantly found in India.
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14/09/2020 11:09:33
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SPECIALITY FATS
Photo: Adobe Stock
Phulwara butter
The phulwara (Aisandra butyracea) tree is generally found on hill slopes and valleys in the sub Himalayan tract, such as in the states of Sikkim, Uttaranchal and northern parts of Bengal. The tree is also known locally as chiuri, kaeleb or butter nut. The trees begin to bear fruit when they are five to nine years old, up to 50-60 years. Ripened fruits are collected by hand or by beating the plant with long bamboo sticks and the harvested fruits are dried in the shade for 8-12 days. The seeds constitute 20% of the fruit and can be manually or mechanically separated. Seeds are cleaned and then dried, and have a thin coat (20% of the weight) which can be easily decorticated to give an 80% yield of white kernels. The butter content of the kernels is 60%. Phulwara fat is light yellow to white in colour. Refined phulwara butter is marketed as phulwara ghee. The fatty acid composition of phulawara fat is C16 (60.8%), C18 (3.2%), C18:1 (30.9%) and C18:2 (4.9%). It is rich in palmitic acid and contains 62% symmetrical POP triglyceride. It is possible to obtain a POP-enriched fraction suitable for blending with SOS fractions to prepare a CBS.
Simaruba butter contains mainly palmitic (10-12.5%), stearic (25-27%) and oleic (55-59%) fatty acids. The butter is used to manufacture vanaspati, vegetable butter and/or margarine. The refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) butter is further fractionated to separate the liquid and solid fractions. The liquid fraction with a very high oleic acid content (about 85%) is comparable to olive oil in its chemical composition. The solid fraction is rich in stearic and palmitic acids and can be used as a CBS or cocoa butter extender in confectionery and bakery applications. The palmitic stearine fraction is also useful in the preparation of ice cream and mayonnaise. Shea butter
Photo: Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org
The shea tree is spread over West Africa, chiefly in Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Togo and Uganda. Africa produces about 1.76M tonnes/ year of raw shea nuts from its wild trees, mainly in the Savannah and Sahel regions, but producers harvest and process only about 35% (about 600,000 tonnes) for export as butter or nuts. The fresh nut contains 43-68% moisture by weight and as much as 3045% of the kernel can be recovered. Shea butter has a high proportion of unsaponifiable matter and, unlike cocoa butter, contains a high proportion of diand tri-unsaturated glycerides, which give it a softer consistency. The unsaponifiable fraction makes shea butter a widely used ingredient in cosmetics as a moisturiser or lotion. Shea butter is also edible and its stearine fraction can be used in conjunction with other vegetable fat fractions to produce an ingredient with a chemical composition almost identical to that of cocoa butter. The olein fraction is used for margarine and baking.
The simaruba (Bursera simaruba) tree is native to parts of Central and South America and has recently been cultivated in some areas of India.
Palm kernel oil The oil palm produces crude palm oil (CPO) from its fibrous mesocarp and crude palm kernel oil (PKO) from
Simaruba butter
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Photo: Adobe Stock
for cooking, soap and candle making and to manufacture cosmetic creams.
Photo: Adobe Stock
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its kernels. CPO is chemically and nutritionally different from PKO. Refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm oil is a popular cooking oil. The palm mid fraction (PMF) or palm stearine is the more solid fraction obtained by fractionation of palm oil after crystallisation and is a co-product of palm olein. PMF is the major ingredient for CBE and CBS manufacturing and is a very useful fully natural hard fat component for products such as shortenings, pastries and bakery margarines. PKO, palm kernel olein and palm kernel stearine find applications in margarine, confectioneries, coffee whiteners, biscuit creams and coating fats – with little or no further processing required.
Going for growth
Manorama has grown from a small company to making its first listing on BSE Ltd (the former Bombay Stock Exchange) in October 2018, raising Rs64 crore (US$8.5M). It reported Rs49.8 crore (US$6.65M) in EBIDTA in 2019/20 compared with Rs31.92 crores (US$4.26M) in 2018/19, and revenue of Rs188.24 (US$25.1M) in 2019/20 against Rs102.4 (US$13.7M) the previous year. "We expect to achieve optimum production levels in 2020/21 and further progress our ambition to become one of the leading Indian manufacturers in the global CBE and speciality butter and fats market," the company says in its annual report. Executive director Kedarnath Agarwal adds that the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic slowdown have created an unprecented challenge for the company and businesses around the world. "It is difficult at this stage to assess the exact impact of COVID-19 on our performance for the whole of 2020/21. However, we see strong and encouraging upward direction in our user markets and we remain cautiously optimistic." Serena Lim is the editor of OFI. Information on cocoa butter alternatives and tree-borne butters has been supplied by Manorama Industries www.ofimagazine.com
14/09/2020 11:09:47
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PLANT & TECHNOLOGY
Global round-up of projects Oils & Fats International reports on some of the latest projects, technology and process news and developments around the world
Cargill’s new Indian chocolate factory to open in mid-2021
IN BRIEF
OMAN: A joint venture has been set up to build a plant to process locally-collected waste oils into biodiesel and other biofuels in Khazaen, Times of Oman reported on 7 July. The Wakud joint venture company is a partnership between UK-based biofuels firm Green Fuels, investment company Protostar Group and Maher Al Habsi. Wakud chairman Talal Hasan said the plant was expected to be operational in second quarter 2021. Located between Sohar Port, Muscat Airport and Muscat City, Khazaen is an economic city being developed over 51.6Mm² of land in Barka.
BLC expands with creative studio in Istanbul
Global speciality oils and fats supplier Bunge Loders Croklaan (BLC) announced on 1 July that it had launched a new creative studio in Istanbul (pictured above). Part of its focus on Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, the studio is located next to the Bunge Turkey office and is scheduled to open in October.
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of 100 new manufacturing jobs.” Minneapolis-based Cargill established its cocoa presence in Asia in 1995 in Makassar, Indonesia, with a team to support the trading and supply of cocoa to the company’s processing plants in Europe and Brazil. This was followed in 2014 by the opening of a cocoa processing plant in Gresik, Indonesia. Globally Cargill’s cocoa and chocolate business comprises a team of 3,600 experts across 54 locations.
Photo: Bunge Loders Croklaan
BRAZIL: Brazilian meat processor JBS is constructing a new biodiesel plant in Santa Catarina, Biofuels Digest reported on 16 June. Built to supply future demand when the country shifts from the current B12 to B13, the US$34.4M plant would be operated by JBS Biodiesel, a division of JBS Novos Negócios. Expected to take a year to build, Biofuels Digest said the new facility in Mafra would produce 1M litres/day of biodiesel from tallow. JBS had already used beef tallow and other inputs, such as recycled cooking oil, for the production of biodiesel, according to a report by Global Meat News in July 2019.
Photo: Cargill
Global agribusiness Cargill has launched a chocolate factory in India and is planning further expansion in Asia, the company announced on 23 June. Due to be operational by mid-2021, the new facility in India will initially produce 10,000 tonnes/year of chocolate compounds. The company started operations in India in 1987 and its move into the chocolate sector in the region adds to its portfolio of interests there including refined oils, food ingredients, grain and oilseeds, cotton, animal nutrition and bio-industrial and trade structured finance. For the new venture, the company partnered with a local manufacturer in western India to help meet the growing demand in the Asian market for chocolate products. “Asia is a key growth market for Cargill. Opening a chocolate manufacturing operation in India allows us to increase our regional footprint and capabilities in Asia to better support the needs of our local Indian customers as well as multinational customers in the region,” said Francesca Kleemans, managing director, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate, Asia-Pacific. “It also demonstrates our commitment to supporting the local economy with the addition
“Our creative studios are the physical representation of the concept, ‘Let’s create together’, which is fundamental to our commitment to innovation,” BLC director of innovation, EMEA, Renee Boerefijin said. “A number of new studios are in the pipeline, all designed to guide our regional customers towards effective translation of ideas into winning new products.” The studio is a workshop environment that provides on-site support to regional confectionery and bakery manufacturers to co-create new products. The facility will also provide training in specific areas, such as reformulation of products according to new regulations on saturated fatty acids, trans fats, and food safety. “The new studio in Istanbul is now part of Bunge’s extensive network in Turkey. This allows us to serve regional customers on a broad range of oils, fats and speciality solutions,” added Öznur Köse, BLC application and technical support manager, Turkey. BLC operates as the global edible oils business of US agribusiness Bunge. www.ofimagazine.com www.ofimagazine.com
14/09/2020 11:14:11
PLANT & TECHNOLOGY
JJ-Lurgi debuts new extractor for Sinograin Oils and fats engineering firm JJ-Lurgi announced on 26 August that it had successfully commissioned its largest oilseed crushing and solvent extraction plant for Sinograin Oils & Fats Industrial Dongguan Co in China. “This latest project adds to our portfolio of more than 300 completed process plants across South East Asia and China,” said the joint venture between Jebsen & Jessen Group and Air Liquide, headquartered in Malaysia. The company said it was able to complete the commissioning work for the plant in just under a month despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The plant had since produced more than 100,000 tonnes of soyabeans and achieved target utilities consumption figures. “Soyabean oil is the second most popular edible oil today, accounting for 28% of edible vegetable oil consumed worldwide,” JJ-Lurgi said. “Growing demand for soyabean oil and meal is outpacing the growth in global supply. With fierce competition for the commodity, optimising oil extraction for soyabeans and improving energy efficiency is crucial for manufacturers to gain a competitive advantage.” The Sinograin project is JJ-Lurgi’s largest oilseed crushing and solvent extraction plant to date and is designed to process soyabeans and rapeseeds. It debuts the company’s new Twin-Track Sliding Cell (SC) Extractor (pictured). JJ-Lurgi said the extractor was the first of its kind available globally and was able to process different oilseeds such as soyabean, rapeseed, palm kernel, and sunflower seeds. “It is capable of capacities above 5,000 tonnes/day, maximises oil extraction, and grants improved energy efficiency; with a unique mild vacuum technology that lowers the hexane content in wet meals and reduces the live steam consumption at the desolventising, toasting, drying and cooling (DTDC) stage. “This new technology has achieved a 20% and 30% reduction in the consumption of steam and hexane respectively, compared with plants of similar scope.” JJ-Lurgi supplies technology in the field of oils and fats extraction, refining, fat modification, oleochemicals and biodiesel. www.ofimagazine.com
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JJ-Lurgi says its new Twin-Track Sliding Cell (SC) Extractor is based on the third-generation model of its SC Extractor (first conceived in the early 1940s) and is also available as a Single-Track SC Extractor
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PLANT & TECHNOLOGY
California refinery to make renewable diesel US renewable energy company Global Clean Energy Holdings (GCEH) has announced that it plans to convert its recently purchased Californian refinery to produce renewable diesel, Biodiesel Magazine reported on 13 May. GCEH paid US$40M for the Alon Bakersfield Refinery, which historically produced diesel from crude oil. Following the purchase, Biodiesel Magazine said that GCEH would retool
IN BRIEF USA: Marathon Petroleum Corp has bought a 50M gallons/year biodiesel plant in Beatrice, Nebraska, which was idled in 2019 by joint venture owners Flint Hills Resources and Benefuel, Biodiesel Magazine reported on 20 July. The US petroleum firm planned to use the plant to aggregate and pre-treat feedstocks such as corn oil, soyabean oil and rendered fats before shipping them to its renewable diesel facility in Dickinson, North Dakota. The Dickinson plant was a diesel fuel refinery formerly owned by Tesoro that Marathon was retrofitting under a two-phase renovation to first co-process renewable diesel and then to produce 100% renewable diesel, Biodiesel Magazine said. The pre-treatment facility was expected to be operational by early next year while the second phase of the conversion would result in the production of 184M gallons/ year of renewable diesel, a Marathon spokesperson said.
the facility to produce renewable diesel from feedstocks such as used cooking oil, soyabean oil and distillers corn oil, as well as its proprietary camelina oil. The plant would produce 15,000 barrels/ day and retooling was expected to take between 18 and 20 months to complete, Biodiesel Magazine said. GCEH’s plan was to distribute the renewable fuels through various partnerships, including one with a major multina-
tional oil company, the firm said. The revamped unit would utilise technology from Danish firm Haldor Topsøe to produce its renewable diesel. Haldor Topsøe said its HydroFlex technology could convert almost any renewable feedstock into drop-in, ultra-low sulphur gasoline, jet fuel or diesel and was designed for both grassroots units and revamps for co-processing or stand-alone applications.
Euglena starts up algae and waste oils demonstration unit in Japan Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) and Applied Research Associates (ARA) have announced the successful start-up of Euglena Co Ltd’s integrated Biofuels Isoconversion unit in Yokohama, Japan. The five barrels/day demonstration unit will produce renewable jet fuel and renewable diesel from an algae oil blend and waste vegetable oil. “Euglena started up the unit this year and its renewable diesel products have met all specifications of the Japanese diesel fuel standard, JIS K2204,” CLG and ARA said in a press release on 20 July. “It has started supplying renewable diesel to local bus services for passenger transportation in Japan.” The Biofuels Isoconversion technology was jointly developed by CLG and ARA and employs hydrothermal conversion and hydroprocessing to convert waste fats, oils and greases into Euglena’s ReadiJet and ReadiDiesel fuels.
File photo: Adobe Stock
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ASTM International has approved the new production pathway for ReadiJet and Euglena said it planned to produce the fuel for commercial flights in Japan and several other locations around the world in the future. CLG is a joint venture between US energy corporation Chevron USA and Lummus Technology, a process technology licensor for refining
hydroprocessing technologies and alternative source fuels. New Mexico-based ARA supplies science and engineering research in the defence, energy, homeland security, aerospace, healthcare, transportation and manufacturing sectors. Euglena develops and produces microalgae products. for the health care, cosmetics and energy markets.
Holly Frontier to switch to renewable diesel production US petroleum refiner and distributor HollyFrontier (HFC) announced on 1 June that it is planning to convert its Cheyenne refinery to renewable diesel production. The Dallas-based firm also announced the construction of a pre-treatment unit at its Artesia refinery. HFC expects to invest between US$650-$750M in its renewables busi30 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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ness and the projects will have a combined capacity of over 200M gallons/year (909M litres/year) of renewable diesel. “Today’s announcements lay the groundwork for an integrated renewables business at HollyFrontier, including multiple renewable diesel plants with feedstock flexibility. After 86 years as a petroleum refinery, Cheyenne will take on a new
challenge,” said HFC president and CEO Mike Jennings. Conversion of the Cheyenne refinery – due for completion in first quarter 2022 – would result in the cessation of petroleum refining and a reduced workforce, HFC said. The pre-treatment unit at the Artesia refinery was also expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2022.
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14/09/2020 11:14:16
PLANT & TECHNOLOGY
Mondi commissions crude tall oil unit Pulp and paper operator Mondi Syktyvkar has commissioned a new crude tall oil (CTO) facility at its site in Russia, scheduled for completion by the end of this year, the company announced on 13 July. The plant at the company’s Syktyvkar pulp and paper mill will produce around 40,000 tonnes/year of crude tall oil with a focus on supplying the petrochemical, road construction, paint and coating sectors. “The CTO plant is part of the Horizon strategic investment programme aimed at eliminating bottlenecks in pulp and paper production processes, as well as responding to the mill’s increased production capacity,” Mondi Syktyvkar managing director Klaus Peller said. The plant would produce softwood and
hardwood tall oil with the former used at the plant to mitigate pitch deposits at its digesters and the latter sold to external companies. Tall oil has recently been intensively used for biodiesel fuel production, primarily in Scandinavian countries. To maximise the CTO plant’s production potential, additional equipment would be commissioned including a 600m³ sulphate soap storage tank, a dispatch unit with a
new bridge to load oil into rail tank cars and tank trucks, and an extra storage tank. Automation and online control of most of the production process would result in continuous tall oil production. New equipment would allow all sulphate soap generated as a by-product of the mill’s pulp production to be processed. Mondi Syktyvkar is part of global packaging and paper company Mondi Group, headquartered in Austria.
Germany’s Serptec teams up with Desmet Rosedowns German screw press and spare parts supplier Serptec GmbH is joining Desmet Rosedowns, bringing over 30 years of expertise in spare parts for the rendering industry, the companies announced in August. The move would consolidate Desmet Ballestra’s manufacturing activities and market presence in the field of spare parts and services for screw presses. “Most of all, it allows our group to address the rendering market with the support of a well-established dedicated team,” said the Belgium supplier of plant and equipment for the oils and fats, biofuels, soap and detergent and animal feed industries. “Serptec represents a significant contribution to Desmet Ballestra’s ambition to become a leading screw press seller and service provider for the rendering business.” Giuseppe Di Carpegna, head of Desmet Ballestra’s manufacturing division, said the acquisition of Serptec provided the group with a strategic location to better serve customers in central and northern Europe in the rendering and vegetable oil industries. As a first result of the newborn synergy between Rosedowns and Serptec, a new specialist rendering press called the SR4.000 had recently been delivered to a German customer, Desmet Ballestra said. Rosedowns, based in the UK, specialises in the design and manufacture of screw presses. www.ofimagazine.com
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Photo: Adobe Stock
RENDERING
Australia is a top exporter of beef and sheep meat, with the country’s rendering industry converting animal by-products into edible tallow, fat and meat and bone meal for various applications into feed, fuel and food
The Australian rendering industry is crucial in supporting the country’s global meat trade, with the majority of rendered products exported Serena Lim Australia punches well above its weight when it comes to supplying the world with meat. Although the country is responsible for only 4% of global beef production, it accounts for around 16% of world trade and has been one of the top three exporters for several decades, along with Brazil and India. Australia is also the world’s largest sheep meat supplier, accounting for 38% of global exports last year. Working alongside every large meat producer lies the rendering industry, which converts animal by-products into edible meat fractions, feed ingredients for livestock, companion animals and fish, as well as pharmaceutical ingredients, edible tallow, and tallow for soap, cosmetics and biofuels. “Nothing is wasted,” says the Australian Renderers Association (ARA). “We even return the water which represents 60% of animal bodyweight back to the environment to sustain our ecology.” Australia is the second largest exporter and the third largest producer of rendered products worldwide. The ARA represents most of the country’s rendering industry 32 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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Australia focuses on global trade – 84% of rendering establishments belong to the organisation and 98% of production comes from ARA-member plants. There are 74 active rendering plants in Australia, according to the ARA. The total production of rendered products is about 1.3M tonnes/year including 500,000 tonnes of meat and bone meal; 550,000 tonnes of tallow; 85,000 tonnes of poultry meal; 70,000 tonnes of poultry oil; 40,000 tonnes of feather meal and 30,000 tonnes of blood meal. ARA members include integrated renderers – meat and poultry processors that also render – and stand-alone independent renderers. Integrated renderers are the larger sector of the industry with 60 rendering plants producing about 70% of product. Fourteen independent renderers produce about 30% of total rendered product.
Focus on exports
The Australian rendering industry is export focused, with about 70% of animal fats exported. “There has been a large change in export markets over the last eight years or so with growing demand for tallow
as a feedstock for biofuel,” says ARA executive officer Dennis King. “Singapore is the largest export market for Australian rendered animal fats followed by China. China was the main market before biofuels started soaking up tallow.” About 50% to 60% of animal protein meals are also exported. “Export demand fluctuates depending on competition with other protein meals and access to international markets,” says King. “There has been a definite shift to singlespecies meal in response to demand from export customers. Markets are generally in China and Southeast Asia, with Taiwan the main market in the last 12 months.” Beef is the major species in Australia’s meat industry. Annual slaughter is usually 8-8.5M head and total carcasses weight about 2.5M tonnes. Consequently, bovine meat and bone meal (MBM) is the main single-species MBM by volume. Lamb slaughter numbers are about 20-24M head plus another 8-9M head of sheep. Total sheep meat production is about 800,000 tonnes/year. Poultry meat production is about 1.2M tonnes in carcass weight resulting in about u 85,000 tonnes of poultry meal.
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11/09/2020 11:03:19
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Climate change and other issues
The COVID-19 pandemic, fluctuations in the value of the Australian dollar, climate change, environmental compliance and control of foreign material in raw material for rendering and finished products have been the major factors impacting the rendering industry. “Relating to climate change, successive governments have introduced new and conflicting legislation, making it difficult for rendering businesses to respond,” says King. “However, ARA members have made changes to reduce the carbon emissions from rendering. For example, one of Australia’s largest renderers – AJ Bush and Sons (Manufactures) – has won awards for its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” The company’s Beaudesert plant, south of Brisbane, has cut carbon emissions by 64% and energy costs by 41%. “Work by the ARA has also resulted in the rendering industry being recognised as an energy intensive trade exposed industry,” King says. This means that eligible renderers can obtain refunds or rebates of carbon tax if they have an independent audit of carbon emissions.” There is currently no carbon tax in Australia and while different governments have tried to introduce one, there have been no clear incentives for renewable energy in the transport sector, King says. “Some states have set targets for renewable fuel in transport but these targets have not been enforced. Consequently, production of biofuels has had little government support and is a risky business as government policies fluctuate.” Australia’s largest biodiesel plant designed to produce 50,000 tonnes/ year was mothballed when the original owners went into receivership, King adds. The plant has been reopened by new owners and is exporting biodiesel to take advantage of overseas incentives for renewable fuel.
Foreign material
A recent issue for Australian renderers has been foreign substances in raw material getting through to both protein meals and tallow. As a result, a comprehensive assessment of foreign materials that can end up in raw materials has been carried out; alternative materials have been developed that can be used in meat processing and are more renderingfriendly; and available technologies that can be used to detect and remove foreign materials in both raw materials and finished product have been promoted. “Efforts to control foreign material have 34 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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‘There has been a large change in export markets with growing demand for tallow as a feedstock for biofuel’ been effective in reducing polyethylene in tallow,” King says. “Australian tallows are now well under 50 ppm polyethylene.”
Outlook for prices
Australia started 2020 with recordbreaking temperatures and months of severe drought fuelling a series of massive bushfires across the country. No sooner did these come under control when COVID-19 struck. In the immediate term, tallow and animal protein meal prices remained firm, helped by the falling Australian dollar. Tallow consignments to China were not greatly affected by the late-JanuaryFebruary developments of the virus in the country, wrote Colyer Fehr Tallow director Damian Evans in the ARA April 2020 newsletter. “While trading to China was virtually non-existent during February, activity picked up in March as factories, offices and banks started re-opening.” During this time, and so far in 2020, biofuel and other demand for tallow has remained relatively constant and has provided part of the backbone for tallow prices, the other key factor being the decline in the Australian dollar, which has been a shock absorber for the country’s export-focused industry. However, biofuel production and biofuel prices around the world have fallen due to reduced demand for crude oil, Evans says. “In addition, the roll-outs of expanded biofuel mandates in Indonesia and Malaysia are being postponed and an increased number of renewable fuel standard waivers are being sought in the USA.” Currently, the supply side is tempering demand side factors, he says. “Shutdowns in various countries have
disrupted the production of many fats and oils and negated part of the demand shock. As for Australian tallow production, it is widely expected to fall during 2020 due to relief from drought and the prospect of herd rebuilding.” Meat and bone meal (MBM) prices have been firm this year due to short supply in January and February and a weak Australian dollar in March. “There was expected short supply in December and early January due to plant closures and reduced kills over the holiday period,” says George Schinard, a commodity merchant at Wilmar Trading (Australia), writing in the ARA’s April 2020 newsletter. “This was followed by rain in late January and February which kept beef and sheep kills down with corresponding weak supply of MBM. Also, in February, coronavirus was starting to influence meat demand in China. This pushed down meat prices and put extra pressure on beef kills.” MBM prices were firm going from January-February and February-March due to weak supply and uncertainty about production as coronavirus started to bite. In the USA, meat plants closed due to coronavirus outbreaks and this further reduced MBM supply in the international market. “In March, the value of the Australian dollar dropped to US$0.57 cents compared with US$0.67 in February. This had a substantial impact on the export price of MBM in Australian dollar terms. “China is now back in the market and this is supporting MBM prices, at least for those plants that are registered to export to China,” Schinard wrote. In the domestic market, feed producers have found MBM too expensive and have adjusted least-cost formulations back to minimum inclusion of MBM,” he says. The market saw increased demand for processed animal protein in pet food during April as Australian pet food producers ramped up production in response to panic buying in supermarkets. This demand was mainly for poultry meal. “Future pricing is uncertain because worldwide demand for meat and the margins for meat production are being affected by coronavirus lockdowns and economic tribulations. If margins go negative, meat production in Australia will slow down. “This will reduce MBM supply and probably support prices but at the cost of weak production.” Serena Lim is the editor of OFI. This article was written with the help of information provided by the Australian Renderers Association
www.ofimagazine.com
11/09/2020 11:03:19
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INSTRUMENTATION
Oils & Fats International reports on some of the latest instrumentation news and developments around the world
The argan tree grows exclusively in Morocco and extraction of the oil from kernels is traditionally done by hand Photo: Adobe Stock
Scientists develop test to detect purity of argan oil
A method to screen the quality and authenticity of argan oil has been developed by scientists from the UK’s Quadram Institute, the food and health research centre announced on 8 April. As one of the world’s most expensive vegetable oils, argan has become an increasingly popular ingredient in cosmetics and health products and the market for argan oil is forecast to reach US$500M by 2027. Quadram said its new method could help protect consumers from fraud while supporting honest producers and suppliers. Using a benchtop NMR spectrometer developed by Oxford Instruments, the method can screen for quality and authenticity, detecting when argan oil has been mixed with cheaper alternatives. It measures the profile of different monounsaturated (MUFA), polyunsaturated (PUFA) and saturated fatty acids (SFAs) in argan oil. Quadram said the five-minute test did not require sample preparation, solvents or to be run in a laboratory, meaning it was suitable for in situ testing. The Quadram researchers developed the test working with the Centre National de l’Energie des Sciences et des Techniques Nucléaires (CNESTEN) in Rabat, Morocco. They obtained samples of argan oil with known provenance taken from different 36 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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regions and at different times, allowing them to gain a view of the natural variation in the oil’s fatty acid profiles. Samples of argan oil were deliberately mixed with sunflower oil at different ratios and could be distinguished from 100% argan oil through their fatty acid profiles. The researchers also tested a range of different vegetable oils. Most could be distinguished but some, for example bran oil, looked very similar based on their MUFA, PUFA and SFA profiles. Quadram said a range of other minor compounds were also present in argan oil including phenolics, tocopherols and free fatty acids. Using bespoke computational techniques to incorporate this information allowed the scientists to identify 15 different types of oil as different to argan oil. The argan tree grows exclusively in Morocco and the oil is made from the kernels of the argan fruit. Argan oil is used both as a medicine, particularly for skin conditions, and as part of the diet. It is rich in fatty acids, polyphenols and other components that have been linked to reductions in chronic health conditions. Although mechanical presses have replaced traditional hand extraction, the trees themselves are slow growing so demand for the oil remains high.
Norwegian testing company Orivo (previously known as OmegaVeritas) has built a database of the most commercially available omega-3 sources worldwide to improve transparency in the industry, Nutra Ingredients reported on 6 April. While other omega-3 certification schemes concentrated on ensuring sustainability of fisheries through documentation approval, Orivo’s vice president of global sales Ole Kristian Sakkestad said the company took a science-based approach to test the end product. “We are the only company in the world that can scientifically prove the origin and species used in the oils,” he said. Those who signed up for the new certification process could display the company’s authenticity logo on their packaging alongside a four digit code which consumers could input into the Orivo website to read about the supplement’s origin. “Not only do we support consumers’ need for transparency by guaranteeing origin and species, we also support the sustainability aspect as it helps consumers to find out for themselves, not just the origin and species, but if they are buying products that are from sustainable fish sources,” Sakkestad added. Orivo uses NMR technology, which is similar to an MRI scanner, to discover the origin of omega-3 oils. “We use sophisticated algorithms to create a unique chemical fingerprint for each species and we have developed a huge fingerprint database through which we can match samples in order to verify species and origin,” said Orivo’s co-founder and CTO Erik Fuglseth.
Photo: Adobe Stock
Global round-up
Orivo database verifies omega-3 origin and species
www.ofimagazine.com
14/09/2020 11:19:45
INSTRUMENTATION
Speeding up sesame oil testing SGS acquires Thomas Stephens & Associates in US Researchers from China’s Yanshan University have developed a technique to speed up sesame oil testing, Securing Industry reports. The new technique is based on a combination of 3D fluorescence spectroscopy and machine learning using AlexNet, a convolutional neural network or CNN. Although 3D fluorescence spectroscopy was becoming a popular method for analysing oil samples, the fact that vegetable oils had limited fluorescence spectra made it difficult to differentiate between types, the 24 January Securing Industry report said. By adding the machine learning element to the analysis, the test’s accuracy had been improved to such an extent that the new technique was 100% accurate when identifying if a sample was counterfeit or not, while also being able to predict the concentration of sesame oil essence. The testing did not destroy the sample and the AlexNet CNN analysis provided “abundant data information for statistical analysis” with a short experiment time, as it avoided a “cumbersome tuning process and … dependence on high-performance computers”, according to researchers.
“This provides a new method in the field of food safety and quality identification, which is important for maintaining the normal operation of the oil market,” the scientists added. Sesame oil (pictured) was a popular condiment in China and other Asian countries but its premium price had led to the sale of cheap vegetable oil adulterated with sesame oil essence, Securing Industry said.
the industry’s number 1 choice
Leading Swiss inspection and testing company SGS acquired US clinical research firm Thomas J Stephens & Associates (Stephens) earlier this year. Stephens is a leading provider of safety and efficacy testing and contract research services for the cosmetic and personal care sector, headquartered in Texas. “This acquisition expands SGS’s Consumer & Retail service portfolio in the clinical testing sector for cosmetic and personal care products in the USA,” SGS CEO Frankie Ng said in January. “The combination of Stephens and SGS Harrison Research Laboratories in New Jersey gives SGS a leading position in this field in the USA.” Offering inspection, verification, testing and certification services, SGS operates a network of over 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world.
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INSTRUMENTATION
Researchers develop extra virgin olive oil test Researchers at the UC Davis Olive Center, USA have developed a new process to determine the reliability of products labelled as extra virgin olive (EVOO), Olive Oil Times reported on 15 January. The centre’s method analysed triacylglycerol (TAG) profiles in olive oil for potential adulterants using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) with charged aerosol detection (CAD). “The method is more environmentally-friendly as it requires a simple dilution of the sample rather than the solvents and chemicals needed for existing methods,” said centre research director Selina Wang. As the method could be automated and did not require a chemist, it could also be run in-house for those with a UHPLC. The new approach combined TAG analysis with Principal Component Analysis
Swiss verification and testing firm SGS has increased testing for Roundup residue at its laboratories amid Bayer lawsuits, Reuters reported on 15 June. SGS said that nine of its laboratories had been awarded an advocacy group’s certification. Two more laboratories in Asia and South America were also expected to gain approval from The Detox Project, a group active in publishing information about health concerns linked to the Roundup ingredient glyphosate. German chemical giant Bayer had inherited Roundup cancer lawsuits following its purchase of US agricultural chemicals company Monsanto in 2018. Following a year of negotiations to settle the legal disputes, Reuters reported on 24 June that Bayer had announced it would pay out more than US$10bn to settle around 125,000 cases in the USA concerning the product. The company denies claims that Roundup or its active ingredient glyphosate causes cancer, saying decades of independent studies show the product is safe for human use. 38 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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(PCA), Wang explained, adding that TAGS were the main components making up 90% of the compounds in edible oils, with each oil having its own characteristic TAG profile. As well as TAG profiles for olive oil, the UC Davis researchers also determined TAG profiles for five common extra virgin olive
adulterants including high oleic sunflower, high oleic safflower, canola, soyabean and grapeseed oils. These oils were chosen based on the likelihood of their usage in blending with extra virgin olive oil. Researchers began screening by using a UHPLC-CAD to separate and analyse the TAGs in a variety of pure oil samples and oil blends. Once TAGs were separated, similarities and differences between different oils based on their TAG profiles were analysed by PCA. “More research is needed to expand the TAG database with more oil types, more samples within each type, multiple adulterants, oils made from different cultivars, geographical locations, climate and such to better define clusters in the PCA, thereby improving the accuracy of this approach,” added Wang.
Detecting coconut oil adulteration
Adulteration of coconut oil has emerged as a major issue, according to a paper published in the Indian Coconut Journal last year. Titled ‘Adulteration in Coconut and Virgin Coconut Oil: Implications and Detection Methods,’ the paper was published by a team from India’s ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute. The team said adulteration had emerged as a major issue due to a production shortfall and consequent high prices. In 2018, for example, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banned 166 coconut oil brands in Kerala found to be adulterated. Common coconut oil adulterants included palm kernel oil (PKO), testa, argemone and cottonseed oils. The simplest way to detect adulterants in coconut oil was to pour the oil into a transparent glass and place it in the refrigerator, the FSSAI said. If it was pure coconut oil, it would solidify; otherwise, an adulterant would form a distinct layer. Coconut oil adulterated with other edible oils could be detected by testing the Iodine Value (IV), with a higher IV
Photo: Pixabay
SGS increases residue testing for Roundup
Photo: Pixabay
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indicating a higher content of unsaturated fatty acids. While coconut oil contained medium chain saturated fatty acids which had an IV of about 7-10, other oils had relatively high iodine values. For example, PKO had an IV value of 16–19 and cottonseed oil ranged from 100-117. Therefore coconut oil with an IV higher than 10 indicated adulteration. Virgin coconut oil (VCO), extracted from fresh coconut milk as opposed to the dried kernel or copra in coconut oil, was known for its anti-microbial properties and had a market price up to 10 times higher than that of other common oils. For this reason,
VCO was extensively adulterated with cheaper oils, the team said. The FSSAI said based on the available quality standards, it was difficult to differentiate between VCO and coconut oil. However, the main differentiating features were the variation in tocopherol and polyphenols content. Analysis of adulteration in oils had been conducted using methods such as differential scanning calorimetry, spectroscopy, e-nose, gas chromatography. These methods could be costly, the team said, and there was a need for a simple and cost effective technique to check for adulteration in coconut oil. www.ofimagazine.com
14/09/2020 11:19:56
PLANT-BASED FOODS The global rise in consumer demand for plant-based foods is opening up new markets for oils and fats which are used to add flavour, moisture and texture to the meat alternatives on our shelves Gill Langham Plant-based foods are a growing business with food manufacturers ranging from start-ups to leading global agribusinesses entering the market. Consumers are seeking options beyond traditional animal protein – whether for reasons of health, animal welfare, sustainability or simply variety. One of the main goals of many alternative meat supporters is to cut down on livestock farming, which is linked to a range of environmental issues, and accounts for nearly 15% of yearly greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The growing popularity of alternative proteins is evident on store shelves and confirmed by consumer research. In 2019 the plant-based meat category in the USA was worth US$939M – a year-on-year growth of 18% – with more than 208M units sold, according to the Good Food Institute (GFO), an organisation that advocates plant-based substitutes. Of all US households, 14% purchased plant-based meat, which equates to approximately 18M households. Latest retail sales information released by wellness-focused data company SPINS on 3 March 2020, shows that sales of plant-based foods that directly replace animal products have grown 29% in the past two years to US$5bn. Plant-based meat sales have been boosted by an increase in offerings from food manufacturers such as Californiabased start-up Impossible Foods to global agribusiness giants including Cargill and ADM. In Asia, Phuture Foods is catering for alternative meat tastes. With plant-based products growing in popularity and investment in laboratorycreated products on the rise, meat manufacturers including Tyson and Smithfield are also investing in the sector. “When companies like Tyson and Smithfield launch plant-based meat, that transforms the plant-based meat sector from niche to mainstream,” said Bruce
Meat the futur
Friedrich, who runs the GFO. “They have massive distribution channels, they have enthusiastic consumer bases, and they know what meat needs to do to satisfy consumers.”
Target audience
Impossible Foods says the term ‘meatfree’ does not apply to its products. The company makes ‘plant-based meat’ and is keen to point out that its target consumer is the meat eater. About 95% of people who eat the Impossible Burger eat animal-derived products on a regular basis, explains Jessica Appelgren, the company’s vice president of communications. “We are not targeting the population that already consumes a plant-based diet free of animal-based products. Instead, we are going after the much larger population that loves meat from animals. “That market – the meat-eating population – is expanding very quickly and that expanding market is driving our international strategy. Demand for meat is growing faster in Asia than anywhere else on the planet – and satiating the continent’s demand has global implications. “The greatest growth in demand for animal products will come from the Asian
market, with a growth rate of more than 70% over the next couple of decades,” adds Appelgren. China consumes 28% of the world’s meat, according to the FAO and the OECD (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). That is about twice as much as the USA, according to US agriculture department estimates. The company’s goal is to make many categories of meat, fish and dairy products from plants and following the success of its plant-based Impossible Burger, it also launched a range of pig-free pork. Designed to replicate ground meat from pigs, the main protein in Impossible Pork – like its predecessor – is soya. This is combined with sunflower and coconut oil and the soya-derived heme protein. Heme is a molecule derived from plants that gives the ‘meat’ its flavour and its signature blood colour.
Taste and texture
Both the Impossible Burger and Impossible Pork made from plants contain coconut oil and sunflower oil. “The fat content is a large part of what differentiates one meat from another. For example, in part due to pork’s subtle flavour, a lot of the characteristic flavour
40 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 www.ofimagazine.com
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PLANT-BASED FOODS Consumers are seeking options beyond animal protein for health, animal welfare and sustainability reasons – as well as for simply variety
ture
have less saturated fat and cholesterol than animal fats and give the additional mouthfeel quality. Phuture’s technology incorporates rice into the blend, which is created by micro-emulsion through interactions with the proteins and fats in the product. Mimicking the building blocks of meat, this creates the fatty, juicy mouthfeel. Currently available in Singapore, Phuture Foods has ambitions to roll out its meat-free products across Asia, particularly in China.
Photo: Adobe Stock
Vital ingredients
in pork has to do with its fat,” says Appelgren. “Pork has a different fat composition to beef and we incorporated that difference in our ground pork product by replicating the delicious flavour of pork and also the juicy, fatty mouthfeel that it brings. As a result, coconut oil and sunflower oil play an important part in replicating the cooking process and taste of animal meat.” Impossible Foods do not currently sell their products in the UK but its plan is to sell plant-based meat in every region of the world and, in 2019, it filed paperwork with the European Food Safety Authority, the EU agency that provides independent scientific advice regarding the food chain.
Serving Asia
Joining the growing range of start-ups worldwide, Malaysia’s plant-based meat company Phuture Foods has developed a variety of products for the Asian market which includes a vegan ‘pork’. A plant-based alternative for ground pork, the Phuture Mince 3.0 product is made of more than 20 ingredients, including shiitake mushrooms, chickpeas, soyabeans, peas and rice and can be used in any recipe that includes ground pork. The company’s products include extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil, which www.ofimagazine.com
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As the plant-based meat sector expands, it is also a vital and growing market for oils and fats. For example, Cargill’s portfolio includes a range of sources for the meat alternatives space. Fat and oil sources provide different functions when developing plant-based meat alternatives, explains Cargill’s marketing manager Jana Mauck. “Fat sources are used for food fortification or adding essential nutrients, creating succulence and replicating the ‘juicy’ experience you have with animal proteins, as well as adding to the texture. Oil sources are included to add moisture and lubricity to replicate the mouthfeel of animal proteins.” The launch of Cargill’s own range of plant-based hamburger and ground ‘meat’ products earlier this year underlines the company’s commitment to the sector. Its patties and ground products, made from soya and pea protein, are designed to be made into tacos, spaghetti sauce or other dishes. Retailers can also sell the products under their own labels. Edible oil giant ADM is also a major supplier of ingredients to the sector and Michelle Peitz, technical sales, refined oils – ADM Oilseeds, says: “Coconut oil is used extensively in the plant-based protein market, but oil blends can provide significantly improved functionality at low temperatures. “Blends also offer a more solid fat at mouth temperatures so that flavour release is delayed for extended enjoyment. Selection of an oil or oil blend should be tailored to the specific application to ensure optimal performance.” The plant-based sector is one that ADM expects to expand rapidly in the next few years. “Modern customers are interested
in supporting their holistic health by consuming foods that offer nutritional benefits, particularly foods from plant sources. ADM anticipates growth in the plant-based sector as more and more consumers are demanding food choices aligned with their sustainability and wellness values,” Peitz says.
Plant-based fats
Global speciality oils and fats supplier Bunge Loders Croklaan (BLC), part of Bunge Ltd, has also introduced a range of plant-based fats designed to replace meat fats. The palm and shea-based systems feature melting profiles tailored for use as fat ingredients in meatless burgers. BLC says its palm-based fat mimics the fat bubbles and pocket characteristics of animal fat in hamburgers and is easier to process than liquid oils or waxy fats such as the more commonly used rapeseed oil or sunflower oils. Additionally, both its fats are nonhydrogenated and trans fat free, and can improve parameters such as firmness, cohesiveness and springiness, potentially reducing the need to add emulsifiers and gum-based texturisers, it says. “Fat, especially derived from beef, is the key contributor to flavour. We succeeded in recreating this sensory experience with high-quality plant-based fats,” explains BLC Europe marketing director Feike Swennenhuis. Meat suppliers are also developing new products, for example, US global food company Smithfield Food launched a plant-based protein portfolio under the Pure Farmland brand in 2019. The company’s simply seasoned burger patties, for example, contain coconut oil, canola oil and sunflower oil.
‘Growing’ meat and fats
As well as launching new plant-based products, companies have also been developing cultured or ‘clean’ meat grown from cells. Tyson Foods, one of the largest meat processors in the USA, has been working with Future Meat Technologies to do just this. Other firms have been developing ‘cultured’ fats derived from animal cells to mimic the richness and juiciness provided by animal fats in meat (see p42). The future is definitely looking plant-based. ● Gill Langham is the assistant editor of OFI OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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CULTURED FATSES
Fat influ
Towards sustainable meat Cultured fats are a new kid on the block which can mimic the richness and juiciness provided by animal fats in meat. Because they are derived from animal cells, they do not have the damaging environmental impact of animal farming David Brandes Global meat consumption totalled 341M tonnes last year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. On average, this amounted to 45.5kg of meat consumption per capita or a staggering 124kg/year or 350g/day in the USA. Animal farming produces more CO2 emissions than the entire transportation industry combined, with 7.1 gigatonnes/ year of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) or 14.5% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions. At the same time, animal farming consumes more fresh water than the entire human population as the production of one kilogramme of beef requires 15,414 litres of water on average. By 2050, the world population is set to reach 10bn and protein demand will rise by 70%, driven mainly by the growth in 42 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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India’s and China’s middle classes. Livestock is the world’s largest user of land resources, with pasture and arable land dedicated to the production of feed representing almost 80% of total agricultural land. However, only a third of all food calories consumed by humans is produced via these animals. Given the rising meat demand, combined with limited space and natural resources requirements, animal agriculture farmers will be forced to either create more space efficiency within existing stables, or explore forest and shrubland, often resulting in deforestation.
New alternatives on the rise
Plant-based and cultured meats offer a solution to rising meat demand. US consulting firm A T Kearney predicts that by 2030, 18% of all meats consumed will be plant-based and 10% cultured meat-based, with these industries needing to supply 73M tonnes and 41M tonnes of meat alternatives respectively (see Figure 1, following page). In order to facilitate such a tremendous shift in the meat eater’s dietary habits, alternative meat producers will need to find ways to reach, convert and retain their clientele. Arguably the most crucial step in winning over meat eaters is driven by their taste experience – the meaty, juicy sensation that carnivores crave. According to a Deloitte report, 86% of consumers quoted “taste” as the largest driver of new food adoption.
However, just 28% of consumers judged the taste of plant-based meats as “good” or “very good”. In addition, 31% of consumers believe plant-based foods taste worse, according to a 2019 Food & Health Survey. Taste and texture are posing the greatest barriers to meat eaters entering and remaining in the plant-based segment. The main ingredient providing the taste and texture qualities of a meat product (whether conventional or plant-based) are the fats used. Animal fats are responsible for the mouth-coating richness of meat and show a higher saturation grade than vegetable fats, which explains the juiciness of livestock meat. Even vegetable fats that are highly saturated, such as coconut oil, still melt at a much lower point than animal fats, so the experienced juiciness in a first bite quickly fades. Furthermore, animal fats bring about a softness and tenderness which might play a more subconscious role in how we perceive meat.
Cultured fat
Given that producers are currently limited to vegetable fats and oils to provide the taste and texture in plant-based meats, a new product which offers improvements in this area is an exciting development. Cultured fat is derived from animal cells, rather than by slaughtering livestock. In the case of avian fat, for example, cells are extracted from a fertilised egg
www.ofimagazine.com
11/09/2020 12:04:26
CULTURED FATS
before the embryonic stage. As those cells multiply, they are scaled to large volumes in a controlled environment. Once a critical mass is archived, the cells are programmed to develop into fat cells that are good for consumption. Only a single cell is needed to produce unlimited amounts of cultured fat and the upscaling process does not require animal components. With cultured fat acting as a a taste and texturising ingredient, the two contenders in the race towards protein replacement – plant-based meats and cultured meats – can now be combined to create a food product which can win over meat eaters. Each element provides unique and differentiating properties. Plant-based proteins have a similar molecular structural composition to meat-based proteins. Cultured fats add the missing taste and texture that meat eaters crave. Ecologically, the combination makes sense. The feed conversion ratio (FCR – the amount of feed/crops needed to produce a unit of meat) for beef is the worst of the entire food ecosystem, with only one food calorie produced for every 25 calories consumed by the animal. Cultured meat, on the other hand, “could be produced with up to a 96% reduction in both greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, compared with conventional meat”, according to an Oxford University study. When applying the novel technology to create hybrid products consisting of plantbased and cultured fat, only 10-25% of cultured fat is needed to generate 100% of meatiness, depending on the product. www.ofimagazine.com
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Companies active in the field of producing fats and oils for the alternative meat space include plant-based fat producers such as Cubiq foods and C16 biosciences, oil farmers and trading houses largely active in the tropical rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia, and emerging cultured meat producers such as Peace of Meat, focusing on large-scale fat production from both avian and mammalian species. Most Asian, Israeli and US-based cultured meat companies, including Mission Barns, Shiok Meats and Aleph Farms, have conducted proof-of-concept exhibitions or public meat tastings. In Europe, Peace of Meat displayed its pure cultured fat in early 2019. Some early and well-funded cultured meat movers include Memphis Meats and Blue Nalu, as well as Mosa Meat. These companies have announced Series A and B rounds to establish semi-commercial pilot factories with production volumes in the range of 100-500kg biomass/month, with the objective to scale up further and reach cost parity with animal-based meats. Market access of cultured meat products is expected around late 2023 after the products have been successfully regulated by local food safety agencies. The first regions to regulate cultured meat are likely to be Asia and the Middle East, due to their perceived legislative speed and agility, as well as the reduced influence of meat industry lobbying.
Vegan or genetically modified?
Based on the cultured meat production process, animals may or may not be involved in the value chain and may or may not be considered genetically modified (GM). The decision whether a product is considered vegan is governed by the absence of animals in the production chain. Two production factors, the cell culturing medium and the cell line, are
exposed to potential animal involvement. Cell culture media, driving 80-90% of the cost of cultured biomass, traditionally includes animal-derived growth factors. The removal of animal components has been announced by several players like Memphis Meats, Mosa Meats and Peace of Meat. Secondly, the choice of the starting “cell line” and isolation technique determines the degree and frequency of animal exposure. Some companies rely on extracting biopsies from the living animal which serve to produce around 2,000kg of cultured biomass each. Other companies extract a similar cell line from fresh carcasses. A non-intrusive way to continuously produce cultured meat without sustained animal exposure is achieved through immortalisation of cells, thus maintaining proliferation. Cell immortalisation through CRISPR technology and RNA editing is common practice in the USA and some Asian markets. However, this might be considered genetic modification in Europe and affect consumer perception. Avian species allow for the extraction of stem cells from eggs before the embryo has formed. Such a cell line can arguably be considered vegan since an extraction theoretically needs to happen only a single time and will then allow for endless natural proliferation. The essential question to ask, however, is “what really matters to the consumer?” For the target group of meat eaters craving mouth-coating richness and juiciness, claims like “vegan” or “GMO” might be secondary to product meatiness. Changing the dietary habits of meat eaters around the world will require massive scale but cultured fats can help facilitate a step in this direction for those concerned with the environmental impact of animal farming. David Brandes is the managing director and co-founder of Peace of Meat, Germany
Source: A T Kearney, 2019
Fat influences the taste and texture of meat products
Photo: Adobe Stock
Players and state of the industry
Figure 1: How will cultured meat disrupt the food and agricultural industry? (US$bn) OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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STATISTICS STATISTICAL NEWS FAO vegetable oil price index hits 5-month high
FAO global vegetable oil price index
FAO, UFOP
The FAO vegetable oil price index hit a five-month high in July, spurred by firm prices for palm, soyabean and rapeseed oils, according to UFOP. The index, which illustrates the changes in international prices of the 10 most important vegetable oils in world trade, rose to 93 points in July, an increase of 7 points or 8% on the previous month. Palm oil benefited from prospects of a slowdown in production in the wake of flooding in the most important palm oil-producing countries. Strong global demand for imports and continued concerns over labour shortages in Malaysia gave prices an additional lift. Rapeseed oil received support from growing demand from the biodiesel and food sectors in the EU.
Record US 2020/21 soyabean supplies forecast
The US Department of Agriculture’s August crop production report forecasts a record 2020/21 US soyabean yield of 53.3 bushels/acre, boosting the crop to 4.425bn bushels. Coupled with large beginning stocks, expected total supplies for 2020/21 are the highest ever at 5.055bn bushels. Supply gains could further strengthen US soyabean exports for 2020/21 by 75M bushels to 2.125bn bushels. Even so, a bigger surplus may accumulate in season-ending stocks to 610M bushels. The US season-average farm price is seen 15 cents lower in August to US$8.35/bushel. Record US soyabean yield forecast for 2020/21 (bushels/acre)
EU-27 oilseed crop (million tonnes)
European Commission/UFOP
Prices of selected oils (US$/tonne) Mar 20
Apr 20
Mintec
May 20
Jun 20
July 20
Aug 20
Soyabean
695.3
661.9
677.3
718.2
812.7
835.0
Crude palm
625.6
569.2
538.9
603.4
641.0
692.1
Palm olein
583.9
531.6
520.2
592.7
610.5
670.9
Coconut
863.5
852.2
848.3
936.9
913.0
988.1
Rapeseed
783.1
769.0
812.3
853.6
921.5
935.4
Sunflower
701.0
740.5
752.9
804.3
784.9
842.6
Palm kernel
734.5
715.6
663.0
740.9
726.9
785.0
Average
712.0
691.0
688.0
750.0
773.0
821.0
Index
169.0
164.0
163.0
178.0
183.0
195.0
44 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
Stats.indd 1
USDA
EU 2020 oilseed harvest
The 2020 oilseed harvest in the EU-27 is set to be larger than the two previous years to total 29M tonnes, according to European Commission estimates. This would translate to a rise of just under 3 per cent year-on-year. However, production will still fall about 4% short of the long-term average, says UFOP. Sunflower yields are estimated to rise 8% from the previous year, resulting in a bumper crop of 10.8M tonnes. Sunflowerseed is the second most important oilseed crop in the EU-27 based on quantity. Rapeseed will account for the largest share of oilseed production in 2020, as in previous years, with a slight production rise from 2019 to 15.4M tonnes. A larger sown area is offset by slightly lower yields. The soyabean harvest is forecast at 2.7M tonnes, on a par with 2019 levels.
Mintec provides independent insight and data to help companies make informed commercial decisions. Tel: +44 (0)1628 851313 E-mail: sales@mintecglobal.com Web: www.mintecglobal.com The Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants represents the interests of companies and associations involved in the production, processing and marketing of oil and protein plants in Germany
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10/09/2020 10:32:58
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