Volac to increase whey protein isolate capacity 100 per cent
According to the whey protein specialist, demand for premium fat-free protein is growing, largely due to interest in the sports recovery market. Last year the company conducted consumer research among 1,001 adults aged between18 and 60 who exercise at least once a week. It reported that 24 per cent of respondents expressed interest in a product to aid muscle recovery.
In December Volac teamed up with Milk Link to jointly invest £10m in the latter’s Taw Valley creamery in Devon. A spokesperson for Volac told NutraIngredients.com that this will generate more raw materials to feed into Volac’s whey protein isolate production.
The new factory investment will ensure Volac has the equipment and capacity to handle this increased supply, in particular for its Volactive Hydrapro ingredient for ready-to-drink beverage applications. The company has not released exact production capacity figures.
The £2.5m is earmarked for new microfiltration and ultrafiltration membrane systems at the factory in Felinfach. These have been designed in-house and made by Swansea firm Axium Process.
Mark Neville, head of lifestyle ingredients at Volac, said that the knowledge base within Volac’s team has allowed it to “optimise the plant design to our own very specific requirements in a way no external equipment supplier could have done.”
“The process adds value to every product stream created during the isolation of protein from the whey. As a result we have not only improved the efficiency of the manufacturing process but also enhanced the product quality and consistency as well.”
The company expects there to be minimal disruption to production while the new and replacement equipment is installed over a six month period.
At the same time, some features have been incorporated to increase efficiency and reduce energy consumption.
