Syral Reveals New Applied Research Centre

With the newly constructed and well-equipped applied research centre of 1,300 square metres, SYRAL is responding to the increasing demand for concepts from customers, along with a transparent collaboration and development of these new ideas together with clients.

10/07/09 The official opening of SYRAL’s new application centre in Marckolsheim took place at the beginning of June. This investment is part of a strategy directed towards enhancing the company’s European position as the third largest producer of starch and starch-based ingredients for various different industries. The expenditure is included in an amount totalling 160 million euros for a three year period. SYRAL is a subsidiary of Tereos, and is Europe's third largest producer of starch and derivated products.

Investments have also taken place for SYRAL’s manufacturing companies in Belgium, Italy, Spain and for both of the French production locations in Marckolsheim, (the head office), and in Nesle. The site in Marckolsheim has recently started using a second new spray drying tower with patented technology. This meets the most stringent microbiological requirements with regards to hygiene, which companies of infant nutrition and personal care products actively demand from their suppliers.

Through these investments, SYRAL is changing and adapting the industrial facilities, in order to better cater to new market trends and to the changing requirements of clients. The investments follow the take-over of the Tate & Lyle plants in 2007, and make SYRAL a competitive player for the future, as pointed out by the company’s CEO Pierre-Christophe Duprat.

With the newly constructed and well-equipped applied research centre of 1,300 square metres, SYRAL is responding to the increasing demand for concepts from customers, along with a transparent collaboration and development of these new ideas together with clients.

"The raison d’être of the application centre goes beyond producing prototypes and validating the properties of SYRAL products in finished products”, explains Anne Wagner, Vice-President Innovation. “We provide our clients with tools that are responsive and flexible. Our partners can use our pilot equipment and laboratories to develop innovative new sweetening formulations, or work on existing ones. Our priorities - although we are also involved in projects in a number of other fields - are nutrition and health claims, which have been our main area of research for the past two years.”

SYRAL is able to support her clients when working on product development, testing, or even on presentations of new product concepts. SYRAL provides clients with manufacturing support and helps them in making the best usage of ingredients. These co-development initiatives ensure that clients have access to properly tailored solutions that are optimised for their own requirements. SYRAL’s market intelligence also ensures that new concepts fit market needs and evolutions of EU regulation.

The new pilot halls contain a broad range of equipment for all areas of food industry applications, such as confectionery and biscuits, as well as culinary aids, meat and dietary products. Two examples include a continuous aerator system for incorporating air into confectionary products, and a vacuum cooking system for hard boiled candies. The new centre also includes a laboratory for producing tablets and chewing-gum, including the coating equipment.

The new innovation centre has also facilities specifically designed for paper and corrugated board application. With all of these wide range of equipment, SYRAL is able to provide clients with creative and innovative solutions.

Besides the pilot hall, the centre also includes a sensory research laboratory, analytical laboratories with state-of-the-art facilities for analytical research (chromatography, rheology, particle analysis, hygroscopicity) and facilities for product ageing and shelf life research. SYRAL has trained experts that carry out sensory research on taste and smell and texture.

The new spray drying tower, which brings the total number of drying units for all SYRAL sites to five, was brought into service in Marckolsheim during the first half of 2009. SYRAL has joined forces with Tetra Pak to develop and patent a new spray drying technology, to which SYRAL has exclusive rights. It represents a total investment of 15 million euros. With two spray drying towers, the production plant in Marckolsheim now has two different spray drying technologies. Consequently, it can produce a broad range of products, such as standard and agglomerated powders, fine or coarse particles and with outperforming particle size distribution.

The spray drying facility in Marckolsheim is ISO 9001:2001 certified and HACCP driven. The installations have been designed to meet the strictest microbiological standards and enable all of a product's critical parameters to be managed efficiently. They meet the requirements of manufacturers of infant nutrition and pharmaceutical products, as well as those of the food industry, such as dairy products and convenience foods.

The spray drying towers are in operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and are manned by seven permanent staff members. The new workshop increases the production capacity of maltodextrine and dried glucose, and SYRAL can now respond even better to the ever-growing needs of a market.

The production unit has four packaging lines, ranging from a 25 kilogram bag to a ‘big bag’, and so the client can order the exact quantities needed. Bulk deliveries are possible as well. This unique facility houses manufacturing equipment, along with the technical expertise required to manage all critical parameters, including particle size, density, flowability, mechanical stability and dissolution speed.

As part of a 160 million euro investment programme, a new protein manufacturing facility has been built on the Nesle site in France, together with a food glucose factory. The Saragossa starch factory in Spain will have its product portfolio increased, replacing the production of isoglucose. A bioethanol production unit was opened at the Aalst site in Belgium in 2008, whilst the capacity of the Saluzzo grain distillery in Italy has increased threefold in recent times.