London / UK. (tl) Tate + Lyle PLC, a leading global provider of speciality food ingredients and solutions, announces the expansion of its direct sales capabilities in Japan and the opening of a new office in Tokyo. This initiative, which is in line with Tate + Lyle´s strategy to grow its speciality food ingredients business in Asia Pacific, will enable Japanese food and beverage customers to gain direct access to Tate + Lyle´s team of experts to develop the next generation of food and beverage products.
«Japan´s food and beverage companies are highly innovative, so they expect nothing less than world-class experts to help them create new products», said Joan Braca, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia-Pacific. «Tate + Lyle has the expertise, passion and innovation capabilities to work side-by-side with Japanese companies to help them bring new and exciting products to market».
Tate + Lyle´s global network of Applications and Technical Service laboratories include four in the Asia Pacific region located in Melbourne, Brisbane, Shanghai and Singapore. These facilities provide applications development, rapid prototyping, complete formulation and process and evaluation expertise to help food and beverage customers move quickly from idea to market.
In addition to these customer-facing facilities, Tate + Lyle´s Asia Pacific support includes sales teams and distribution partners in China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. Tate + Lyle also recently announced the expansion of its manufacturing presence in the region by signing an agreement to acquire Winway Biotechnology, a leading Chinese polydextrose speciality fibre business.
Joan Braca added, «The expansion of our direct sales capabilities in Japan will provide us with a better understanding of the challenges faced by our customers and how best to help them meet consumer demands for better, tastier and more healthy products».
Tate + Lyle: Acquires Winway Biotechnology
London / UK. (tl) Tate + Lyle PLC, a leading global provider of speciality food ingredients and solutions, announced two weeks ago that it has signed an agreement to acquire the business and assets of Winway Biotechnology Nantong Company Limited, a leading producer of polydextrose speciality fibre in the People´s Republic of China. The transaction is subject to governmental approval which is expected later in the year. Winway operates from a manufacturing facility and laboratories in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, where it produces a range of polydextrose products which are sold to customers in China and worldwide. Tate + Lyle intends to invest in the Nantong facility over the next two years to expand capacity and enhance its speciality fibre product offering. Nantong will become Tate + Lyle´s third polydextrose facility globally, in addition to existing lines in the Netherlands and the US. Polydextrose is a premium, low calorie bulking agent and dietary fibre. It plays a key role in replacing the technical functionality of sugar, providing bulk, body, texture and mouthfeel in reduced calorie, no-added-sugar and/or high fibre foods. A soluble dietary fibre with prebiotic properties, polydextrose helps support gastrointestinal health, is very well tolerated, has a low glycemic / blood glucose response, and is clean tasting and easy to use. Polydextrose is one of Tate + Lyle´s growing range of speciality fibres. Olivier Rigaud, President, Speciality Food Ingredients for Tate + Lyle: «The acquisition of Winway provides us with an excellent platform from which to accelerate the growth of our specialty fibres business in Asia Pacific, and to expand our Health and Wellness offering globally».
