Beneo-Orafti offers organic inulin for US market

30-Oct-2009 - Last updated on 30-Oct-2009 at 15:43 GMT

Beneo-Orafti has launched a liquid organic fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) called L58, offering companies a prebiotic ingredient for the rapidly growing organic sector.

The ingredient, produced from organic sugar, received organic certification from BCS Oko, Germany, under the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) standards.

“Beneo-Orafti is proud to be the first major inulin producer to launch an organic version of fructo-oligosaccharide to the market,” said Joe O’Neill, executive VP sales & marketing at Beneo-Orafti. “[The introduction of this ingredient] shows a clear demonstration of commitment to market driven innovation, considering the importance of the organic food market segment in the US and elsewhere.

“Organic specialists dominate much of the activity in new products, particularly in North America,” he added.

The company said that samples of L58 Organic are already available to US food producers, with full production planned to go online this month to supply the US market.

When contacted by NutraIngredients-USA.com for information on pricing, prebiotic doses levels, and further production information, no-one from Beneo-Orafti was available for comment prior to publication.

Organic growth

A recent report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said that the organic market has experienced “double-digit growth for well over a decade”, and that organic consumers have become “increasingly mainstream”.

Although certified organic acreage has doubled in the US since 1997, organic food sales have quintupled over the same period, from $3.6bn to $21.1bn last year.

Fruit and vegetables still represent the biggest sub-sector of organic food sales at 37 percent, followed by dairy at 16 percent, and beverages and packaged foods at 13 percent each. Areas of fastest growth include the organic beverage sector, which grew by 40 percent in 2008, and organic breads and grains, which achieved 35 percent growth over the year.

Orafti said that the its L58 Organic ingredient can be used as both a prebiotic fiber for the promotion of good digestive health, and as a sugar substitute in applications such as yogurt, ice cream, breakfast cereals and cereal bars.