#	Pagina
attuale pagina	/open-h2020/projects/200409/results.html

Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NATAROM (New isolation methods for production of natural aroma ingredients)

Teaser

Summary

Nowadays, health and bio aspects in the food industry are vital which is being carried out by the EU institutions audits (Confederation of the food and drink industries of the EU - CIAA) which forces food manufacturers in food industry to continually increase the natural ingredients content ratio in their final products. CIAA also focuses on the communication of data and monitoring of intake and organoleptic controls. These aspects are governed by the EU Regulation (EC) 1334/2008 on flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring properties for use in and on foods. Moreover, food manufacturers and other stakeholders (e.g. aroma producers) face the same demand from consumers, together with a demand for a wider variety of tastes and flavours.
Despite the fact that flavours and fragrances create a minor part of the food items, from the qualitative point of view, they are one of the most influential and important criteria for end users to select a health product. To remain competitive and innovative, producers of natural aroma ingredients (also refers as natural aroma chemicals) are under pressure to provide purely natural food ingredients.
The project will establish a technically validated and economically proven production process of the two natural aroma ingredients: 2,4-decadienal (deep fat flavour) and beta-damascenone (rose-like aroma). The reason for the choice of this topic is our capability to solve the lack of these compounds in the flavour and food markets. In general, flavours play crucial role in two ways: (i) for end users - food manufacturers: they are the starting point for producing food items with â€œnaturalâ€ and / or â€œbioâ€ label which is a strong trend in food industry, and (ii) for final consumers: they are one of the most influential and important criteria to select more healthy and more high-quality product.

Work performed

The activities of the project summarised in the feasibility study covered three main areas: (1) Assessment of technical viability (incl. evaluation of the companyÂ´s present technical resources and their applicability to the proposed system; evaluation of availability of all inputs (raw materials), their quality, transportation, substitutability and prices; evaluation of the means of sustaining the freshness and elimination of material degradation through the production process; evaluation of the possible production processes, decisive optimum isolation steps; evaluation of the final optimum product concentrations and organoleptic quality and evaluation of waste management and possible alternative use); (2) Assessment of commercial viability / Market report â€“ analysis of the situation in EU/global (incl. evaluation of the market trends, market situation & trend analysis production capacities and distribution policy; evaluation of the influence of cooperation with top customers in order to fine-tune the concept on the customersâ€™ needs (quality and quantity potential); evaluation of other market exploration; evaluation of pricing and promotion strategy; evaluation of distribution/selling opportunities; assessment of sensitivity analysis on costs of raw material (trend analyses) related to seasonal effects; evaluation of the type and geographical territories of IP protection); and (3) Assessment of economic viability / Financial and business plan during the investment and operating periods (incl. evaluation of current operations, needs and perspectives for business development; assessment of further exploitation possibilities and time schedule for implementation; evaluation of the minimum profitable scale, amount of stock needed (samples availability); evaluation of the operation scale to meet the economic viability needs; evaluation of the project location and the impact on the environment and the approval of the concerned institutions for license and costs of transporting inputs and outputs to the project\'s location; summarising the financial projections).

Final results

The activities of the Phase 1 resulted in preparation of the feasibility study. Based on the technical and quality (sensory) barriers in production of natural 2,4-decadienal the feasibility study recommends not to invest at this moment in further development of this product. But the manufacture of this product remains a challenge for our company.
On the other hand, the feasibility study has confirmed increasing interest of the market in natural beta-damascenone. The production process based on innovative method of the natural beta-damascenone isolation invented by Axxence may build on its technical, qualitative and environmental advantages compared to other methods used by the competitors. Proposed business plan shows the significant economic impact of the natural beta-damascenone production on growth of the company and success on the global flavour and fragrance market. According to the findings, Axxence continues in validation of the method and preparation of the scale-up production through the SME Instrument Phase 2.