FDBusiness.com

ESI Nutrition, the nutrition division of French dairy co-operative Laïta, has announced that, after two years of planning, construction, and initial set up, its new production line located in its Ploudaniel’s facility is now fully operational. The decision to invest in this new line dedicated to complex nutritional products was made in 2018 in response to the ever-more demanding quality standards set for infant and clinical nutrition products, which are the primary markets targeted by these new offerings.

The newly installed equipment consists of a sterilization module followed by aseptic filling and complete with a secondary packaging unit. Beyond enhancing its production capacity and providing state-of-the-art quality control, with this investment, ESI Nutrition also wanted to expand the range of formats available to its customers and released two new bottle sizes: 70ml and 90ml. Smaller than the existing options, these new bottles are compact and perfect for ESI Nutrition’s flagship product, “nourettes”, which are liquid infant formula prepackaged in ready-to-use baby bottles with a dedicated screw top and adapted teat, handed out in maternity wards. They are ergonomically designed for easier handling and translucent to keep track of how much has been consumed.

“Seeing the first market-ready bottles coming out of the line was a big milestone for the company and we are really excited for the addition of these new options to our range. Not only will it open up opportunities for our customers in the infant nutrition market, but it could also benefit sports nutrition brands and even be a great match for highly concentrated clinical nutrition formulas. Regardless of the application, our team of expert is here to provide our customers unparalleled support throughout the process, from navigating the regulatory landscape and creating a formula that meet their specific needs to getting their brand on the packaging,” explains Mathieu Lucot, Marketing Manager at ESI Nutrition. “The fact that our facility is GACC-approved to supply products for export to China is also a big asset that will allow us to develop our reach in the area by providing nutritionally-adapted solutions that best support infant’s growth and development,” he adds.

ESI Nutrition offers nutrition brands a complete range of shelf-stable, ready-to-market products with a focus on infant formulas, clinical nutrition, and healthy ageing as well as sports nutrition and active lifestyle. In addition to bottles, the company also supplies small ready-to-drink cartons and individual plastic cups.

Parent company Laïta is one of the top ten dairy co-operatives in Europe and oversees the entire milk collection process from local dairy farms, all located in Western France.