Tim Van de gehuchte has a background in Environmental & Bioscience and extensive global experience in nutrition and functional health ingredients, having previously held innovation and business development roles at Isaltis in France and more recently at IMCD and GBI in the Netherlands. Tim joined Meurens Natural SA in 2020 as Sales & Marketing Manager.
What’s the Meurens Natural history and your current motivation and ambitions?
Created from a restructuring operation in 1994, Meurens Natural, a family-owned Belgian company, processes cereals and dried fruits into organic and natural ingredients for the food processing sector. A pioneer in the organic sector with the Sipal® brand, for 30 years, Meurens Natural has developed a unique production and product know-how that is 100% in line with organic philosophy.
Over the years, the company has become the European specialist in cereal hydrolysis due to its unique and innovative production process and the variety of raw materials that are being processed.
Meurens Natural is committed to promoting healthier eating and sustainable practices in the food processing industry. Our approach involves producing natural and organic cereal food ingredients that are non-refined, GMO free, with some products coming from upcycling, which helps in maintaining the nutritional integrity of the food. Additionally, our focus on environmentally friendly production processes demonstrates a commitment to reducing the ecological footprint. Our philosophy not only supports consumer health but also contributes to the broader environmental goals of sustainability. Such initiatives are important as consumers become more environmentally conscious and seek out products that align with these values.
How have you experienced the growth of the organic market over the years, and what is, in your opinion, the current market situation?
Over the last decade, the organic market has experienced significant growth, mainly driven by increasing consumer awareness of health, environmental concerns, and food safety. Even though in the last two years, due to the energy crisis for example, growth stalled and even declined a bit, we see again a rising demand for organic products that are perceived as healthier, safer, and more sustainable compared to conventional food products. Moreover, we see that retailers from large supermarket chains have expanded their organic offerings, and organic products are now more accessible than ever.
Consumer preferences have shifted towards transparency and sustainability, pushing the whole food industry to adopt practices that are more environmentally friendly and socially responsible. Also the increasingly stricter regulations on organic certification and labelling play a big role in further building consumer trust.
«Meurens Natural is committed to promoting healthier eating and sustainable practices in the food processing industry»
Today, the organic market is becoming increasingly competitive and diversified. There’s a growing segment of consumers willing to pay a premium for organic products, motivated by factors like health benefits, taste, and a desire to avoid chemical additives.
Innovation in organic farming techniques and the development of new organic products are likely to drive further growth. Additionally, as more consumers adopt plant-based and health- conscious diets, we believe the organic market will continue expanding.
In what ways can ingredients companies contribute solutions to brands and manufacturers?
As a natural and organic food ingredient company, we play a crucial role in the food supply chain by providing solutions that can strengthen or amplify product offerings, improve product/production efficiency, and ensure sustainability for brands and manufacturers. When looking at our portfolio, we always strive to develop new ingredients that are in line with:
- Unique ingredients that help create innovative products. This includes developing plant-based ingredients with unique flavours, textures, or health-focused ingredients like protein-rich plant-based alternatives.
- High quality ingredients that are organic and natural, non-GMO.
- Sustainable ingredients: ingredients that are coming from cereals coming from eco- friendly practices (oats, millet,…).
- Ingredients that comply with all regulatory demands and labelling requirements.
- Ingredients that are tailor-made or co-developed with our customers.
- Cost-effective ingredient solutions without compromising quality that can help in solving problems related to shelf life, stability, taste, and texture.
On top of that, our internal application laboratory can help with application development.
«We strive to continue being a frontrunner by continuously working on developing and innovating products that come from local agriculture»
What motivated the development of Sipal® and how has it evolved since then?
Late 1980’s we got a customer request to produce an organic cereal syrup to be used in syrup waffles in The Netherlands. A vision was created and in 1994 we decided to fully and only focus on the creation of organic cereal syrups. It gave birth to the brand Sipal®.
What are the emerging trends in the use of organic ingredients in the food industry?
The use of organic ingredients in the food industry has been shaped by several trends that reflect consumer preferences for health and sustainability. These are, just to name a few, clean label trend, plant-based trend, request for sustainability and request for more wholesome products. These trends have been driving innovation and demand in the organic ingredients market.
How do you envision the future demand for organic ingredients? And Meurens Natural’s position in this scenario?
The future demand for organic ingredients will continue its growth, driven by ever growing health awareness (no chemicals, higher nutritional profile….), sustainability goals (since organic automatically strives for more natural resource conservation), tightening regulations on labelling, diversification, more cost-effective production of organic products and consumer demand for more transparency and higher quality.
As a pioneer in the organic sector for more than 30 years, we strive to continue being a frontrunner by continuously working on developing and innovating products that come from local agriculture, are natural resource efficient, boost biodiversity, are upcycled, have diverse organoleptic and physicochemical properties and are clean label.
Author: Oriol Urrutia, Co-Editor.
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