Cargill Helps Manufacturers Optimize Product Formulation and Supply Chain Costs with EmulTru Starch

New ingredient delivers functionality of gum arabic with reliable pricing and supply, and potential cost savings of 25 percent.

16 Jun 2010 --- Cargill will showcase an innovative new texturizing ingredient, EmulTru starch, in a great-tasting sports drink prototype at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Food Expo July 18-20 in Chicago. EmulTru starch, an emulsifying starch made from waxy corn, provides food and beverage makers the same functionality in products as gum arabic does, while delivering a potential costs savings of 25 percent.

"A walk down the grocery store beverage aisle quickly shows consumers' demand for sports-related beverages," said Wen-Juin Shieh, technical manager, fruit and beverages, Cargill Texturizing Solutions. "However, instability and uncertainty around one key ingredient in many sports drinks, gum arabic, threatens to cut into the profits of beverage manufacturers. EmulTru starch offers a true replacement for gum arabic, and can help our customers manage ingredient pricing and supply chain-related risks." Shieh further discusses the topic on the Cargill Innovation Exchange.

Gum arabic is an emulsifier that gives beverages consistent flavor and appearance features, such as cloudiness or coloration. The largest supplier of gum arabic is Sudan, where drought, locust infestations and conflict have affected the price and supply of Sudanese production. Industry experts say that prices will be up and supply down in 2010 and beyond. In addition, gum arabic also can perform inconsistently due to challenging growing conditions in that country.

"The beverage industry is fiercely competitive, and the instability in the gum arabic market is a serious challenge for many of our customers," said Shieh. "At Cargill, our challenge is to help our customers find a way to mitigate those risks, which we're doing with EmulTru starch."

Shieh adds that overall, EmulTru starch outperforms other starches targeted at replacing gum arabic, and addresses a very real concern that customers have about cost, supply and performance consistency.

Additional benefits of EmulTru starch include:

* It is a reliable and locally produced ingredient source.
* It delivers the same type of functionality that gum arabic does in flavor emulsion or cloud beverages, but at a lower cost, with longer term emulsion stability, and with more consistent quality performance.
* It can remain liquid at high solids and in cold storage conditions, which presents a potential for cost savings when shipping concentrated emulsions. Stable high solids concentrates reduce transport costs and increase concentrate production rates.
* With EmulTru starch, the stabilizer usage level can be decreased, pre-hydration becomes unnecessary, and foaming and pre-homogenation waiting time is reduced.