food Marketing - Technology 1/2023

Ingredients
Battling the Challenges in
Texturizing Ingredients
by Nesha Zalesny
Does anyone else feel like the pandemic
has been like dropping a rock into a
pond? There was the initial shock of the
actual pandemic; but the ripple effects
of that rock to the smooth surface of
the water keep impacting the world. To
most industries, the ripple effects on
the supply chain have been tsunamilike.
The food and beverage industry
has been especially affected. Prior to
2020, most ingredients were available
and lead times were reasonable. The
current situation is not nearly as
optimal. The pandemic exposed a lot
of vulnerability within many industries,
but the food industry was perhaps one
of the most visible. In many regions,
grocery store shelves have sat empty
for long periods. Within the food
hydrocolloid business, buyers and
suppliers alike have all faced little to
no availability of many ingredients.
Among the hardest hit, carob bean
gum, starch and xanthan gum. In fact,
few hydrocolloids remain as available
as they were pre-pandemic.
Carob Bean Gum Crisis
Carob bean gum, used extensively
in the beverage and dairy industries,
has recently faced a major crisis. This
incredibly useful hydrocolloid, also
known as locust bean gum, is used
extensively in foods. In ice cream it
helps control ice crystal formation,
slow melting characteristics, and
provide a creamy mouthfeel. It is
considered an essential ingredient
in many dairy formulations. In plantbased
milks and beverages, it provides
a creamy mouthfeel more similar to
full-fat dairy milk. Consumer concerns
about climate change, animal welfare
and their own health has led to
incredible growth for plant-based milks.
According to the Good Food Institute,
retail sales of these beverages have
experienced double digit growth in the
US for the past four years. US sales
in 2020 were estimated at $2.5 billion
and accounted for 15% of the fluid-milk
sold. West European sales of plantbased
beverages were $3.5 billion in
2020 which was an increase of 15%
over the prior year.
An examination of the label of most
plant-based milks reveals two nearly
ubiquitous ingredients; gellan gum and
carob/locust bean gum. Carob bean
gum is a natural ingredient derived from
carob trees that grow in coastal regions
along the Mediterranean. Morocco,
Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Turkey have
thriving carob industries. Prior to 2018,
the seeds used to produce carob bean
gum averaged between €2-3/kg. IMR
International estimates the carob
bean gum industry is growing at a rate
of 3.3%. Demand for carob bean gum
far outpaced the industry’s ability to
supply’ Seed prices went from €2/kg
to €25/kg in the course of a year. To
remain profitable, suppliers had to
increase the price of carob been gum.
In the first quarter of 2021, the price
reached as high as €100/kg. During the
height of the crisis, very few suppliers
were offering contracts and buyers
were forced to spot purchase, at spot
purchase prices.
A further ripple in the supply crisis,
a batch of carob bean gum sold in
Europe was found to be contaminated
with Ethylene Oxide (EtO). The legal
limit for EtO in Europe is 0.1 mg/kg.
This resulted in an European Union
(EU) rapid alert (RASFF) to be issued.
Unfortunately, the contaminated carob
bean gum was used in a very popular
ice cream texturizing and stabilizing
blend used by several European ice
cream manufacturers, all of whom had
to issue their own alerts and/or recalls
to consumers.
Understandably, manufacturers
started looking for ways to reduce
or eliminate carob bean gum in their
formulations. A major hydrocolloid
supplier has developed a differentiated
gellan gum that they claim stabilizes
protein and provides mouthfeel. In
essence replacing the gellan and
carob gum blends usually found in
these products. Guar manufacturers
have created modified guar products
that more closely resemble the
performance of carob bean gum. Guar
modification can be done by either a
physical process, or by enzymatically
treating guar gum. These remain a
low-cost option for formulators looking
for alternatives. The reformulation
efforts, while slow are beginning to be
felt. There is some controversy over
the regulatory status of enzymatically
modified products in the EU. These
efforts, along with reformulating, has
had an impact on the carob bean gum
market. Some buyers have reported a
drop in demand by as much as 75% of
normal.
Stiff Starch Situation
One of the hardest hit texturizers
in the food industry is also one of
the most universal. Starch can be
manufactured from a wide variety of
raw ingredients, from corn, potato
and wheat to rice and tapioca. Starch
is comprized of long chains of glucose
molecules which plants create to
store energy. It is used throughout
the food industry for mouthfeel
and thickening. It is unique in that
it is a bulk thickener, meaning that
use levels for starch average 2-4%
in most applications (most other
hydrocolloids are well below 1% with
some exceptions such as gum acacia
and gelatin). Starch is also very widely
used in a multitude of industrial
applications such as paper, textiles
construction and even oilfield. Prior
to the pandemic, buyers of starch in
food and/or non-food applications
rarely, if ever, experienced shortages,
and the average price for food starch
was under €1.00/kg, although some
specialty grades could be found at
€2.00-3.00/kg.
For the starch industry, one of the first
ripples began in the second quarter
of 2020. Starch buyers first started
reporting not being able to purchase
their usual starch. The ripple gained
10 food Marketing & Technology • February 2023