Strong interest in Avebe's Eliane waxy starch from Eastern Europe

Avebe says Eastern Europe is the principal market for its new Eliane potato starch-based fat reducer for mayonnaise, but insists that cost hikes and accelerating "health and wellness trends" could change that.

Business development manager Tommy Anzelius told FoodNavigator.com that since the new mayonnaise lines were launched in mid-November, sales trends were pointing east: “Our main business volumes are towards the east of Europe, whereas in the west egg yolk is still used in a lot of applications.

“That’s due to the fact that in Poland, The Ukraine, Russia, cost is looked at in a completely different way [where eggs tend to be costlier than starch] while in western Europe – my own country Sweden, for instance – rigorous measures to prevent illnesses such as salmonella are in place.”

While a reduced salmonella risk in western Europe (as compared with the east) reduced the risk to cut eggs out of mayonnaise, Anzelius said there are signs of growing interest in the region. “Things are perhaps starting to change a little, also as consumers also recognise some of the claimed benefits for starch solutions”.

Beyond low cost in use - where increased cost pressures in western Europe for products such as eggs are perhaps beginning to bite - Avebe stresses that “health and wellness trends” are central to the new Eliane product’s positioning as a product to cut fat and/or lower saturated fatty acids, while one emulsifier product also replaces egg yolks in mayonnaise.