Tate & Lyle Plc, a leading global ingredients supplier, has recently concluded an agreement to acquire 85% stake in Chaodee Modified Starch Co., Ltd. (CMS), a well-established tapioca modified food starch manufacturer based in Thailand.
This investment extends Tate & Lyle’s presence in speciality tapioca-based texturants and establishes a dedicated production facility in the main tapioca region of eastern Thailand. The acquisition will enable Tate & Lyle to offer a broader range of tapioca-based solutions to meet customers’ needs for better tasting and clean label foods in categories like dairy, bakery, snacks, noodles and soup, sauces and dressings.
Tate & Lyle will jointly-operate CMS with the former owner. Together with its new partner, Tate & Lyle intends to invest in the facility over the next 3 years to increase significantly capacity for higher functionality starches. The CMS facility will be supplied with substrate by a co-located tapioca starch mill fully owned and operated by Tate & Lyle’s partner.
Nick Hampton, Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle said, “We are delighted to announce this investment to expand our tapioca offering and grow our texturant portfolio. CMS brings new tapioca capabilities, raw material sourcing expertise and additional production capacity to Tate & Lyle, and expands our presence in the high growth Asia Pacific region.”
Thailand is a major producer of tapioca starch with 90% share of global output. Tapioca is also the most popular and fastest growing texturant source in the Asian diet, and the fastest growing starch in new product formulations, according to latest CAGR data from Mintel GNPD 2015-2019. Tapioca is also known for having highly desirable functional properties such as a translucent colour, clean taste, and a soft gel-like texture.
