MC Mühlenchemie is expanding its presence in Africa, opening its third African location with labs and a technology center. The new Stern Ingredients South Africa subsidiary in Randburg near Johannesburg has the capacity to develop and produce individual system solutions for improving, standardizing, and fortifying flours and baked goods. With this new location plus the existing ones in Lagos and Nairobi, MC can perform the entire value addition chain in flour improvement and fortification on site, from sourcing, rheology and analytics, to application development and production for African mills and bakers.
The new subsidiary in Johannesburg has 400 square metres of space plus the equipment for flour and grain analysis. In the trial bakery processes can be simulated, and the effects of enzymes and other ingredients tested. Equipment includes spiral kneader, sheeters, deck ovens and convection ovens. The custom solutions developed here are produced in an own attached plant, so customers can take delivery and put products to use quickly. To improve collaboration with mills and bakeries, and to facilitate technology transfer, Stern Ingredients South Africa has set up a training and education center at the location.
The subsidiary is led by Jannes Peemoeller, who has been MC’s Area Sales Manager for the South African market for many years. Through to the end of the year he will build a team of experts in technology, consulting and production in Johannesburg. They will be in close contact with the MC location in Nigeria, with its baking technology facility, and the one in Kenya, which also has a rheology and analysis laboratory. For knowledge transfer, communication with the central “Futuremakers” Stern-Technology Center in Ahrensburg near Hamburg, Germany remains of key importance. Here, over 100 scientists and applications technologists work on tailor-made solutions to the needs of the worldwide milling industry. Stern Ingredients South Africa will start with applications for flour, baked goods and vitamin enrichment. Use of its facilities by other units of the company group is planned for the future.
Peter Steiner, Global Head of Business Unit MC Mühlenchemie, said, “the growing population and rising prosperity in Africa place high demands on food production. The dynamism and diversity of the continent, and the volatility of global raw materials markets, call for individual and flexible solutions for the production of flour, the staple food. With three subsidiaries and our network of technical specialists, we can now provide even faster responsiveness and shorter delivery times in the region. As the twelfth worldwide technology and production location of MC, this is another milestone in our policy of developing solutions in close proximity to and consultation with the customer.”
