Spotting opportunities like the growth in the ‘health and wellness’ market means listening to customers – and being prepared to make bold investments. Polydextrose, a low-calorie soluble corn derived fibre used in health food and drinks, was made exclusively in the US until we heard the growing demand from European customers.

Now Tate & Lyle has built the first – and so far only – European facility to manufacture Polydextrose, at our Koog aan de Zaan plant in the Netherlands. “We did extensive consumer and market research on fibre enrichment and its importance in emerging health and wellness trends,” says Caroline Sanders, Director, Marketing, Europe. “This built the foundations for the investment at Koog. Polydextrose is has a lower cost in use than its alternatives, so this gave us an even better opportunity when the recession hit – becoming  the only European manufacturer gave us competitive advantage.”