Muntons Annual Review 2016

Muntons Made
CUTTING EDGE LABORATORY
UPGRADE GETS RESULTS FAST
the undiscovered
ingredient
Measurements are important in business, helping us to make comparisons and meaningful
choices. They are very important when it comes to the selection of raw materials and ensuring
that the products we make meet the expectations of our customers. Having the facility in place
therefore to be able to make accurate and repeatable measurements is vital – and this is where
the laboratory at Muntons comes into play.
Making accurate and repeatable measurements is crucial to ensure that
we are both buying and selling products to the correct specifications
but equally important is having the information available in a timely
fashion. Almost all of our products are positively released. They cannot
be sent to a customer unless they have been checked and cleared
through our laboratory and meet the specification for the product. To
achieve this, it is important that the laboratory have an experienced
trained team who understand how to undertake the measurements
and meet the deadlines laid down to ensure timely despatch.
Times change and developments in new technology offer better and
faster ways to make these measurements. During this financial year,
significant investments have been made which have given us the
necessary tools to ensure that we are at the forefront of our industry.
Take a seemingly simple task such as measuring the nitrogen and
protein content of barley. There was a time when measuring nitrogen
in barley would take an hour, now with a calibrated ‘LECO’ instrument
we can do this in five minutes. Even quicker at just one minute with
our near infra-red (NIR) analysis device, which provides an accurate
indication of the quality of barley, helping to improving the speed of
turn-around of barley deliveries. We are now starting to expand this
technology into other parts of the business with the purchase of the
latest generation NIR analyser, which can deliver the fast turn-around
analysis needed for our malted ingredients samples.
Another investment was the purchase and installation of a new dust
extraction safety cabinet for our Miag mill, used every day for grinding
all malts for hot water extraction. Not only does this provide a safe
working environment for our staff, but also ensures a solid structure for
delicate analytical equipment. Not all of the work undertaken within
the lab is for Muntons, we also offer, and undertake, analysis work for
external institutions, and, as part of a crop trials system, we micro-malt
and analyse samples of barley to assesses the suitability of new barley
varieties for brewing and distilling.
Our anaerobic digestion (AD) plant also demands a level of laboratory
control to ensure it is running at its optimum capability and we have a
dedicated team in place to ensure this happens. Our plant has now had
a full year of continuous activity and during this time it generated
2.44GWh, enough to provide 14% of our entire Stowmarket site
electricity, or to put it another way, enough electricity to provide power
for over 500 average UK houses.
There are however other outputs from our AD plant which are proving
to be of interest. After our malted ingredients residue has been
through the AD process it is pasteurised and centrifuged into a suitable
condition to sell as a biofertiliser. Research has been conducted with
Lincoln University to determine the efficacy of this compared to
artificial fertilisers and this has shown that in greenhouse trials, our
biofertiliser improves lettuce growth more than the simple nutrient
content offered by artificial fertiliser. Research into this crop enhancing
property will continue. Meanwhile, samples of our digestate from
within the AD reactor were sent to University College London and it
was analysed as part of their ‘Swab and Send’ project, aimed at finding
new antibiotics. We were pleased to discover that our AD plant
appears to produce antibiotics that could potentially be developed as a
medicine to combat Micrococcus and multi drug resistant E. coli.
Further research is being undertaken to identify the strain of bacteria
found and the compound that it is producing it, to determine if it is
something novel. Medicine from waste, whatever next?
We love malt, and judging by the number and variety of foods and
beverages made using our raw materials, so it appears do consumers
all over the world. Most people probably eat or drink something made
using malt every day, yet how often is it used in home cooking?
One of our challenges is to bring the benefits of malt to the
masses and encourage the consumer to see malt
extract as a store cupboard ingredient.
As our customers discover the benefits
that malt can bring to their products, the
diversity and variety of applications using
malted ingredients grows every year. As
food and drinks manufacturers strive for
cleaner labelling, malt as a natural
product is favoured over more highly
processed ingredients. Consumers want
natural ingredients, a trend which is
making our ingredients more popular
than ever. But the world is a competitive
place, so our efforts are clearly focused on
growing interest in our company and our
products around the world.
Our joint venture in Asia is a bold step,
as historically all our manufacturing has
been undertaken as near to our main raw
material as possible - in the main malted
barley growing regions of the UK. This
new joint venture marks a step change,
as we begin manufacturing nearer to the
market itself. Malt extract made in our
plant in Stowmarket is shipped to
Thailand to be blended with local
ingredients. This blend is then dried into
a stable powder on our new vacuum band
dryer. Not only are we introducing the
benefits of UK malt but we are making
a final product tailored to meet the exact
tastes of the local market. Investment
today to bring prosperity tomorrow.
In the USA, we moved the offices of
our American company, Muntons Malted
Ingredients Inc., eastwards, from Seattle
to the suburb village of Lombard, on the
outskirts of Chicago. Positioned in the
best location to maximise the business
potential from North American customers.
We have also expanded our US
warehousing facility to include a new
outlet in Denver Colorado, making it
easier than ever for our US customers
to buy our products. Looking further
southwards, we are also increasing our
reach, growing sales into markets across
South America. Our network of agents
and distributors are also important
contributors to our global success and
to ensure they are up to date with our
products and processes we held two
conferences during the year. The first
in Düsseldorf for our European partners
followed by a similar event in Bangkok
for our agents and distributors from the
Asian Pacific region. In June, our sales
managers for the US, Asia and Europe
joined with our UK team to share their
challenges and successes and jointly learn
about new applications for malted
ingredients and explore market
developments and trends.
As we continue to see increases in sales
of our extracts, this brings a fresh set of
challenges for our production, planning
and customer services teams. It is at times
like this when our values are brought to
the fore and our trusted, creative and
agile teams work together to ensure
that our future is truly sustainable.
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Discover more at: www.muntons.com
Muntons PLC Annual Review 2016