January, 2021
The South African market has a high demand for common food products, such as bread, cakes, sauces, margarine, and sweets. These goods all require stability, structure and texture from emulsifiers and other related agents. However, to produce optimal quality and freshness at a competitive price, these additives must be carefully formulated.
Fortunately, Ingreto, a leading ingredient solutions company in South Africa, recently obtained sole distribution rights with Lasenor, an international specialist in the production, development and application of emulsifiers. This promises to bring a whole new dynamic to food emulsifying in South Africa. Other countries that have benefited from Lasenor’s footprint include Spain, India, Russia, Brazil, Argentina and the USA.
Ingreto’s range of customised services is aimed at finding advanced ingredient solutions for our clients. This strategic decision to utilise Lasenor products will enable us to continue providing top quality food emulsifier solutions to South African markets,” says Sonia Kittle, Director at Ingreto. “What’s more important is that our clients will benefit from products that are competitively priced and approved by multi-national companies.
Based in Gauteng, Ingreto specialises in sourcing, manufacturing and trading innovative ingredient solutions to the food industry.
An important factor that led to the arrangement with Lasenor is their guarantee to protect the society and the environment. “Ingreto is fully committed to the protection and preservation of our environment,” explains Kittle. “Sustainability is at the heart of our operations.”
A growing trend internationally is the demand for Organic Products. And, although the South African markets have not hurriedly shifted towards this trend, it is slowly being adopted. Lasenor enjoys an outstanding reputation of reliability and compliance. As the shift occurs, Ingreto is ideally positioned to assist with formulation assistance and advice, any additional speciality ingredient sourcing, as well as customer specific and contract blending.
Bread and bakery products, such as sponge cakes, Swiss rolls or special breads are all manufactured from raw materials, or from a pre-mixed bakery blend and ingredient combination. They also have common and important requirements - the production process must be simple and quick, and the final product must be spongy and tasty, with an enjoyable aspect and homogeneous texture.
A product specifically developed for use in cakes is Lansenor BK-101. It improves aeration and also assist in slowing down the staling in cakes, pound cakes, Swiss rolls and similar products. Used in sponge cakes it will lead to a batter with higher stability and lower density due to the increase in air bubbles. This emulsifier also results in uniform, longer lasting and a moist tender crumb with an increased shelf-life.
Emulsifiers available at Ingreto, through their distribution rights with Lasenor, provide bakery goods with the following advantages:
Since industrial bread and bakery products are produced in large and automated factories, specific process-related requirements must be fulfilled. For example, it is imperative that the dough can resist the big stress exerted by the machinery, and that it is as standardised as possible in order to permit a continuous process. It is also advantageous if the shelf-life is prolonged and important that the products have a minimum dispersion in terms of shape, colour and taste.
Bread improvers and bread mixes also include emulsifiers to optimise their performance. Simultaneously, friendlier labelling is needed to satisfy the final consumers’ demands.
Lecithins play an important role herein. Ingreto now offers lecithins that provide volume increase, homogeneous dispersion of the gas bubbles and dispersion of the starch granules. They also facilitate the hydration of proteins, increase the workability of the dough, enhance the rheological properties, and the quality of the finished product.
Chocolate and cocoa products, such as compound chocolate, fillings and cocoa spreads, are typical applications where emulsifiers, both natural (lecithin) and synthetic, are commonly used. They assist with resistance experienced during mixing and can also extend shelf life.
PGPR (Polyglycerol Polycicinoleate) is also used in chocolate or compound chocolate to reduce the yield value. This is especially necessary when the chocolate or compound chocolate will be used in moulded products, for example Easter eggs, and the chocolate must flow to fill the mould completely. It is also required for coated products such as cookies and ice-creams, when a thin and homogeneous coating is needed.
Crystallising agents promote the creation of the appropriate crystal structure, by accelerating the fats’ crystallisation process. The use of crystallising agents can provide different advantages, such as improved resistance to fat bloom, a glossier surface, improved snap when using non-hydrogenated vegetable fats, as well as possible reduction of the time in the cooling tunnel and potential increase of productivity.
Their distribution rights with Lasenor, now enables Ingreto to offer the following lecithin, of botanical origins, as well as PGPR to South African markets:
Due to consumers’ demands, margarine is now mostly based on vegetable fat, and its ingredients are selected in order to obtain a product which is both healthy and functional.
Margarine is a water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion which must be duly stabilised. This confers utmost importance, not only to the production process which must take place, but also to the use of emulsifiers. The right selection of emulsifiers is a key-point to obtain the desired properties in every specific margarine.
Margarines use both natural (lecithin) and synthetic emulsifiers. The technological contribution of emulsifiers in margarines is important for the stabilisation of the emulsion, as well as to improve the production process, the plasticity of the puff pastry margarine, or the addition of air in cream and cake margarine, among others.
Ingreto understands and caters for the intricacies associated with blending of these products and take these aspects into account when advising our clients on their emulsifier needs.
Lecithin and PGPR are common ingredients in many release agents used in the bakery industry. The dosing systems must guarantee a uniform dispersion of the release agent on the conveyors and moulds, and this automatic and iterative process must be robust and efficient. This requires the selection of the right ingredient solution for your every client’s unique needs.
We are excited to continue innovating, and finding solutions for South African ingredient requirements,” concludes Kittle. “We aspire to offering sustainable and quality ingredient solutions to our clients.