Food Ingredients: Danisco Strong in Q1 2009/2010

Danisco, a world leader in food ingredients, announced results for the first quarter (2009/2010) and things are looking "strong" according to CEO Tom Knutzen.

The Q1 report for Danisco, whose food chemicals and ingredients are used worldwide in bakery and beverages, states that "cultures and Genencor were the drivers of organic growth."

Revenue is up 7% (DKK 3.5 billion) and group EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) increased by 27%, yielding considerable margin versus the same quarter last year.

Knutzen remarks,

"Internal cost containment and positive momentum for several of our products are starting to bear fruit, and we are satisfied that we are able to lift our outlook for the full year.
"Meanwhile, we maintain our focus on optimising the business to meet our financial targets."

Here are a few of the fiscal achievements that the report highlights (click the above link for the full report):

• Profit for the Group cam in at DKK 306 million against DKK 271 million last year.


• Sweeteners is meeting internal cash flow targets - its key priority for the current financial year.


• Enablers saw good demand for both Emulsifiers and GUms & Systems. Price momentum was mixed.


• Group organic growth of 2% was made up of stability in Enablers, 11% growth in Cultures, 6% growth in Genencor and weakness in Sweeteners.

According to this and previous reports, the top priority for Sweeteners is "to realign its cash flow," especially in response to the "fierce price competition" in the xylitol market.

Lastly, on August 20, 2009, the following key areas were emphasized at the Annual Corporate Meeting as the corporate focus:

• improve customer service
• optimize product portfolio
• optimize pricing to reflect value
• improve logistics and warehouse efficiency
• simplify sales structure

Present on Danisco's product roster are fibers (like polydextrose), thickeners and gums (like xanthan gum, pectin, and guar gum), sugars, and sweeteners (like Xylitol).

Many of these great food ingredients can be purchased with us at Cooperative Purchasers.