Danisco combines emulsifiers, gums & systems
The Danish ingredients company was already reporting its financial results for emulsifiers and gums & systems together. The Enablers division accounted for 42 per cent of the group’s overall DKK 3449m revenue in Q1 2009/10 (around €463.6m at today’s exchange rates).
But the two ingredients areas are now being combined internally with the unification of their operations, supply chain, purchasing, marketing and HR functions.
Mikael Sternberg Christiensen, who was appointed president of Enablers last week, told FoodNaviator.com that the rational is “simple”: The company can provide a stronger offering to the market if all its financial resources are in a bigger pool.
In particular, the change is expected to be beneficial for innovation, since the R&D budgets for the two areas will be combined.
“The creation of one unit is mostly internal, to better use resources.”
The innovation budget for emulsifiers and for gums will be pooled, which will give “a bigger ability to develop the right offering”.
Two application areas in which Danisco’s enabler ingredients find many uses are bakery and dairy products. Sternberg said the company will continue to develop these.
Innovation at Danisco Enablers is evenly split between customer-specific solutions and wider innovation to address market needs. Amongst the innovation drivers at the moment, health and nutrition is one key aspect, he said.
Sternberg added that he hopes the legislation on health claims will become clearer, to allow for innovation in this area that can actually be used.
Not cost-cutting
Sternberg said the combination of enablers and Gums & systems is not a cost-cutting exercise. Job losses are not foreseen, but “one or two jobs may change”. The Enablers division has an overall staff of over 2000.
In summer 2008 Danisco acquired the Abitec emulsifiers business from Associated British Foods. Following integration of this business into existing Danisco sites, the company is now starting to see the benefits of the synergies.
