FOOD BUSINESS GULF & ME July-Sept 2019 | Page 8

NEWS 6 applications. It is also free from lactose and other allergens, providing an excellent option for the growing free-from category. With 19 percent of free-from consumers saying they avoid lactose or dairy products, this offers significant potential. COBAO TM Pure is a fully deodorized 100 percent cocoa butter that is compatible with other cocoa butters and needs only to replace an amount of the existing cocoa butter in a recipe. On-pack, it should be labelled 'cocoa butter', in contrast to milk fat and other anti- blooming agents like cocoa butter equivalents and emulsifiers, which require a separate declaration on the ingredients list. More than two thirds of consumers (69 percent) say reading labels has an impact on their purchase decisions, highlighting the importance of using natural ingredients that will not disrupt a clean label. Intertek awards Almarai ISO 9001:2015 certification across Saudi Arabia Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, has awarded Almarai Company, Middle East's leading food and beverage manufacturer and distributor, the ISO 9001:2015 certification for Quality Management Systems. The certification has been obtained for all Almarai's operations in Saudi Arabia through a series of multi-site certification audits across its various subsidiaries and facilities in the Kingdom. The Intertek ISO 9001 certificate is accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). Intertek has collaborated with Almarai for the certification since 2018, when it began an extensive audit process which involved numerous production facilities and subsidiaries. Gerard Nelson rejoins the Baker Perkins biscuit business Baker Perkins continues to strengthen its team serving the biscuit, cookie and cracker industry worldwide with the appointment of Gerard Nelson as International Sales Manager. He has chosen to return to Baker Perkins after eight years working for other companies in the industry. His appointment follows the recent return of David Welch as chief engineer for the biscuit business at Baker Perkins. FOOD BUSINESS GULF & MIDDLE EAST Gerard says, “We have completed new design projects in key areas including a patented servo-driven wirecut, a new rotary moulder, a sheet forming and cutting system, the new HiCirc oven, and an encapsulation system for filled cookies and bars. They can transform performance, minimise costs and add brand new products to a range.” The Baker Perkins' range of TruClean forming equipment is designed to meet stringent standards of hygienic design, which not only enables cleaning to be more effective but also faster, reducing downtime and speeding up changeovers. An important contribution for recyclability of food packaging: BERICAP 100% silicon-free valves Product development plays a key role within the strategies of leading companies worldwide. Besides aspects regarding the increase of efficiency within the manufacturing process, cost reduction and market expansion, product features that focus on consumer convenience and sustainability are in the center of interest. While most companies concentrate on not more than one or two of these aspects in order to safeguard that the product features are not overstrained, innovation leaders strive for reaching them all at the same time. The family-owned company BERICAP constantly reviews how products can be refined to pay for efficiency, convenience and sustainability efforts. "We continuously find that seemingly small changes with no negative effect on the quality or durability of our products have great effects in terms of processing, convenience and sustainability," says Christoph Thünemann, Group Director Communications & Marketing at BERICAP. "And whenever we manage to identify the right changes for closures in product segments with still growing popularity, we have made a major contribution." An important contribution to recyclability of food packaging and thus sustainability is the silicone-free BERICAPValve for ketchup, mayonnaises and spreadables. Most bottles are equipped with hinge-caps that are easy to reclose. About 40% of these closures have an additional valve that allows precise and convenient dosing. BERICAPValve takes over a JULY-SEPTEMBER 2019