A food thickener, or a thickening agent, is widely used in the food and beverage industry to increase the viscosity of a liquid food without changing its other properties. Food thickening agents are mainly used in food and beverage applications such as soups, gravies, salad dressing, and sauces apart from bakery and confectionery products. Food thickeners are usually starch-based, gel-based, or gum-based foundations and may comprise polysaccharides, proteins, vegetable gums, and functional flours. The procurement market intelligence report states that the global production of starch amounted to approximately 70–75 million tons with countries such as Germany, the US, Spain, Turkey, China, and India leading the export of cornstarch.

Top Vendors Manufacturing Food Thickeners

CARGILL

Cargill is a privately held American company and a leading provider of food, agriculture, financial, and industrial products. They work in collaboration with farmers, customers, governments, and communities. Cargill offers a broad variety of hydrocolloids with consistent quality, which can be in the form of Carrageenan, Pectin, or Xanthan Gum. Such a food thickener is used in foods like prepared frozen meals, sauce & dressings, various dairy products, frozen desserts, beverages, fruit preserves (jam & jelly) and confectionery. In 2017, the company launched Seabird, an ingredient that provides texturizing solution for gelled dairy desserts.

Ingredion Inc.

Ingredion aims to become one of the best players for food and beverage based ingredients and additives supplier and has built a strategic framework to build its strengths. To achieve this objective the company has invested US$41 million in R&D activities dedicating more than 350 scientists working in their innovation center to develop innovative and localized solutions. Ingredion recently launched new rice-based NOVATION starches for superior texture stability in foods, which can perform under challenging conditions including high protein and high Brix content.

CP Kelco

CP Kelco is an American company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and is a leading producer of specialty hydrocolloids featuring an extensive range including gellan gum, carrageenan, carboxymethyl cellulose, pectin, cellulose gum, xanthan gum, diutan gum and microparticulated whey protein concentrate and other biopolymers. In 2017, the company opened up new production facilities in Oklahoma to manufacture gellan gum which will help the company meet rising demand for food thickener.

Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients is a global leader in creating sustainable food, feed and fuel ingredients derived from edible and non-edible bio-nutrients. The company has over 200 processing plants on five continents that develop specialty ingredients such as gelatine and other high-energy feed ingredients. This food thickener manufacturer reported revenues of US$3.39 billion in the year 2016.

ADM

The Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) is an American food processing and agricultural commodities trading company. The company currently operates with more than 270 plants and 420 crop procurement facilities worldwide used in the production of food, beverage, and animal feeds. The company provides consistent, cost-effective, naturally-derived emulsifiers, food thickeners, and other thickeners, which can be used for applications beyond the food industry including oil well drilling, plastics and personal care items, and paints and coatings. Their key product line consists of emulsifiers and stabilizers, proteins, starches, and non-GMO and organics.

Read more about the top suppliers of food thickener along with liquid thickeners, thickening powder, sourcing strategies, pricing insights, procurement best practices, and procurement challenges in SpendEdge’s upcoming report on the global food thickener market.

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