Lycored’s food and fortification business is set to increase its footprint in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa after establishing a new partnership with the Food Division of Spanish ingredients distributor Indukern.

Based in Barcelona, Indukern’s Food Division will market Lycored’s natural colors, real food ingredients, fortification premixes and single vitamin forms throughout Spain, Portugal, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

As well as an extensive sales network across the region, Indukern’s Food Division has state-of-art application laboratories and pilot plant facilities and offers expertise in categories that are key to Lycored’s business, including dairy and meat.

Thomas Adler, Commercial VP for Lycored’s Food Division, said: “The Iberia and Maghreb regions are markets where we haven’t yet reached anywhere near our potential. Indukern, as an expert in this part of the world, is the ideal choice of partner. They aren’t just distributors: they are also genuine experts in the areas that are important to our business. We know we can trust Indukern to act as an excellent ambassador for Lycored’s food and fortification products in these important markets.”

Albert Adroer Fortuny, Global Food Division Manager at Indukern, added: “Lycored has a superb portfolio of products for the food and beverage industry and they are very much in tune with what companies are looking for in Spain, Portugal and North Africa. As in other parts of the world, consumers in these markets want their products to have clean and clear labels, something that Lycored’s colors and real food ingredients are perfectly placed to offer. With health and wellbeing another top priority, we also see great potential for Lycored’s high quality premixes and single vitamins.”

Indukern will offer a wide variety of products from the Lycored portfolio, as follows:

Natural colors:

• Tomat-O-Red – lycopene-based pink to red colors derived from tomatoes. They are a good alternative to sensitive natural red colors such as beetroot and anthocyanins, as well as carmine, which is not vegetarian-friendly. For companies switching from artificial, the Tomat-O-Red range is a good alternative to Allura Red (Red 40) and Red 3. They offer superior stability compared with artificial alternatives and perform well when exposed to very high temperature processing conditions.

• Lyc-O-Beta – a natural color sourced from Blakeslea trispora, a beta-carotene-rich, allergen-free natural fungus, cultivated under carefully controlled conditions. Lyc-O-Beta delivers a spectrum of yellow-to-orange shades and provides a highly-stable alternative to sunset yellow (yellow 6) and tartrazine (yellow 5).

All natural colors from Lycored are certified Kosher and Halal, non-GMO, vegetarian and are heat, light and pH stable.

Real Food Ingredients:

• SANTE – a natural taste enhancer derived from tomatoes. SANTE provides a high concentration of the natural compounds that produce umami (the fifth taste) and kokumi (the Japanese word for deliciousness) to accentuate existing flavor characteristics while remaining taste neutral. It enables product formulators to create deliciousness naturally and avoid ingredients that are undesirable on the label.

• Dry Tomato Pulp (DTP) – a 100% natural real food ingredient from tomato that can be declared on the label simply as ‘Tomato’. It adds a fresh, consistent red color to sauces (including pasta sauces), condiments, soups and ready meals, with no risk of turning brown like some other colorants. In addition, it also provides an authentic cooked-from-scratch texture and healthy fiber content. In meat products, DTP adds a succulent texture and an appealing pink color.

• Lyco-Fibers – these enable product formulators to modify the pulpiness, viscosity and mouthfeel of sauces, soups and meat products naturally. Not only do Lyco-Fibers deliver a cleaner label, but they also carry the positive benefit of fiber content.Their high stability means that they do not undergo syneresis when used in sauces. In addition, while alternative stabilizers such as gums and starches can lead to a slimy consistency, Lyco-Fibers deliver an authentic vegetable fiber texture.They also improve the juiciness of meat products and prevent burning of the meat when barbecuing.

All Real Food Ingredients from Lycored are certified Kosher and Halal, non-GMO and vegetarian.

Fortification:

• Premixes and single vitamin forms – Lycored offers nearly 400 fully approved active ingredients suitable for use in pre-mixes or as single vitamins. They can enhance the nutritional profile of products and create new positioning opportunities across a range of sectors, including infant formula, dairy, bakery and other staple foods. Lycored can create bespoke pre-mix formulations from an extensive portfolio of vitamins, minerals, botanicals and other functional ingredients, all of which come from trusted and traceable sources. Encapsulation and delivery methods are optimized for each application, so that the end-product will perform just as intended.