AFRICA – Speciality chemicals and food ingredients supplier, Azelis, has opened two new Food & Nutrition (F&N) application laboratories in Casablanca, Morocco and Johannesburg, South Africa in an effort to expand its footprint in Africa.
The labs’ inauguration follows the opening of a similar facility in Cairo, Egypt in June this year, further enabling the Azelis team to provide even more innovative and technical support to customers throughout the entire MEA region.
While fully equipped to service various food segments, these application laboratories will primarily focus on dairy, fruit preparations, baking, and beverages, complementing the many other Azelis F&N laboratories across EMEA and worldwide.
In addition, the facilities will host various customer seminars and trainings, underscoring Azelis’ strategy to be an innovation service provider by bringing knowledge and formulations closer to its customers.
Chris Sacy, Managing Director Azelis MEA, said, “The opening of two new Food & Nutrition application laboratories is a significant move in the market, supporting our drive for innovation, and further improving the technical service we provide to customers.
“These labs perfectly complement one another, each focusing on different applications. With our growing lab network, a recipe developed in one country can be seamlessly shared with our other labs – providing a synergistic opportunity for innovation and knowledge sharing across the region.”
Azeli’s expansion in the region is timely as the food market in MEA is rapidly changing to keep up with the trends happening around the world.
Demand is growing for more enriched foods – high in fiber and protein, and low in fat – along with an increasing focus on plant-based dishes.
In response to this, Patrick Finan, Azelis Food & Nutrition Market Segment Director, MEA, highlighted that, “Our new labs and knowledgeable technical team, along with our extensive lateral value chain will help our customers reformulate their recipes to meet demand and create more innovative, sustainable formulations, keeping them up-to-speed on all market developments.
“These new application labs together with the entire lab network will work to serve the F&N market more efficiently.”
According to Market Data Forecast, the Middle East and Africa specialty food ingredients market has been estimated at US$ 4.6 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach US$ 5.99 Billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 5.44% during the forecast period from 2021 to 2026.
With over 60 application labs around the world, each dedicated to a single market segment, Azelis is constantly working on innovative projects with customers and suppliers.
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