SternMaid Plans to Enlarge its Blending and Filling Capacities
SternMaid has announced its intention to build a separate production plant in Wittenburg, Germany. On its existing site, the contract manufacturer is investing around Eur9 million in new buildings, with the latest powder blending equipment and downstream lines for filling small or retail packs of food ingredients and food supplements. It is hoped to commission the new lines at the end of 2016, to mark the company’s 20th anniversary, and to create some 50 new jobs in the region.
The new blending plant will increase the firm’s annual capacity by an estimated 10,000 tonnes. The additional can and tub filling lines will in future enable SternMaid to respond more flexibly to contract packaging orders.
Volkmar Wywiol, the founder of SternMaid and the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe, comments: “SternMaid is all set for growth. By enlarging our capacities we hope to come closer to meeting the demands of the international markets for convenience food. And we are glad that this investment will help to strengthen the economy of the Mecklenburg-West Pomeranian region.”
The sales of the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe are expanding continuously, not least because of the worldwide increase in the demand for convenience food that can only be produced with tailor-made ingredients. The important thing is to enhance the flavour, viscosity, solubility and texture of the products, while taking economic aspects into account.
After achieving sales of Eur400 million in 2014, the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe is expecting to increase this figure to around Eur430 million in 2015. The share due to food ingredients is Eur265 million and increasing steadily, thanks to the extensive applications research for food ingredients carried out in Ahrensburg (Schleswig-Holstein) and modern production facilities in Wittenburg. In this connection the fluid-bed dryer, which also permits coating and agglomeration, plays an increasingly important role.
