Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has opened a new laboratory in Luohe, Henan Province, China, in collaboration with the Food Laboratory of Zhongyuan, a provincial research and innovation organization.
Covering an area of 930 m2, the new laboratory will focus on collaboration opportunities and projects enhancing human nutrition, pet food, and animal feed applications, as part of LDC’s global strategy to expand its value chain further downstream through more value-added products and ingredients.
The joint laboratory will leverage LDC’s diverse product portfolio, which includes lecithin, Vitamin E, glycerin, emulsifier, and a growing range of other ingredients in its Food & Feed Solutions Platform portfolio, to develop food ingredient options with nutritional and functional qualities that respond to evolving Chinese market demand.
“Capitalizing on Luohe’s position as a major food hub in China, LDC’s global expertise across the food value chain and its focus on innovation, as well as the state-of-the-art facilities and research capabilities of the Food Laboratory of Zhongyuan, the new laboratory will help accelerate our growth plans in the value-added food and feed ingredients area,” said Jerrity Chen, LDC’s Head of North Asia, in a press release. “This development reflects our long-term commitment to growing with the Chinese market – in this case, through the development of innovative product and process applications for the food and feed sectors.”
“The laboratory’s strategic location in Luohe, as a major food hub in China, will enable LDC to engage with leading food and feed companies in the region to develop tailored formulations, dosage forms and innovative application scenarios for targeted segments, including pet food, beverages, snacks and baked goods – for example, lysolecithin applications in food production,” added Shengshu Huang, LDC’s Chief Technology Officer and Head of Specialty Feed Ingredients for North Asia. “We look forward to joining forces with the Food Laboratory of Zhongyuan, and leveraging its research hubs at renowned academic institutions, to help advance food science in China.”
