Beneo confirms $7.7 million investment enhancing German ingredient storage

Functional ingredients business Beneo has made a $7.7 million investment into quadrupling of the storage capacity at its Offstein facility in Germany, writes Neill Barston.

As the company noted, the move will improve its efficiency and strengthen its contingency resilience, with the newly opened fully-automated high-bay warehouse housing its crystalline functional carbohydrates Isomalt, Palatinose and galenIQ.

The new 25-metre-high warehouse for the company, which has devised a number of solutions for the confectionery and snacks sectors, will also help reduce transport costs, has a storage capacity of more than 8.500 Euro pallets. It is located close to both the packaging and shipment operations at the production site in Offstein.

Together with external warehouses worldwide, the addition of storage capacity in Offstein further supports BENEO’s multi-storage strategy for improved business contingency. Furthermore, transport ways are reduced as a larger proportion of functional carbohydrates (below) is now stored on-site than in external warehouses.

In their crystalline form Beneo’s functional carbohydrates store well in humidity and temperature monitored facilities, such as the new warehouse. The fully automated high-bay facility allows for a higher proportion of direct loading and is freeing up personnel from the storage and retrieval process to be used more efficiently in other onsite activities.

Dr. Ralph Cartarius, Operation Managing Director at the firm’s Offstein facility, which employs more than 160 staff, said: “The new warehouse gives much more storage potential for our functional carbohydrates. It also, helps us to gain cost, time and logistics efficiencies, as well as bolstering our business contingency strategy still further. Previously, the majority of our crystalline Palatinose, Isomalt and galenIQ was stored externally, as the onsite facilities were limited. This expansion increases our supply security and reduces transport, but it also saves valuable time and energy for us to redirect into other operations.”

The production plant for BENEO’s Isomalt was opened in Offstein in 1989 and large-scale capacity expansion was undertaken at the site in 2002, with the next generation carbohydrate, Palatinose launched in 2005. These low glycaemic ingredients can be used in confectionery, bakery, cereals, dairy, sports nutrition products, special nutrition and many more applications. The sugar beets that are used as the basis for its key series are sourced from close proximity to the facility.  with BENEO currently employing more than 160 people at the Offstein site.

Related content

Leave a reply

Confectionery Production