Novozymes and Chr Hansen link up for new cheese enzyme project

The two firms, both based out of Denmark, are working together for the first time in many years, to design an enzyme that will boost yields as well as reducing waste products.

"We're good at the first step, finding and developing the enzyme, whereas Chr Hansen has the know-how to apply the product to applications,"​ a spokesperson at Bagsværd-based Novozymes told FoodNavigator.com.

The innovation, set for a probable launch in 2005 and to optimise production, could boost a conservative dairy enzyme market. New research from market analysts Frost and Sullivan puts growth in the mature, established US dairy enzymes market alone at 1.6 per cent.

Now valued at $38.1 million, the market is expected to reach $43 million by 2010, with a CAGR of 1.7 per cent. Since 2000, the industry has been growing at a rate between 1.6 and 1.8 per cent.

Such innovations will also help to counteract low single-digit sales growth for Novozymes​. First half figures for the firm reported in August showed the company knocked by stagnant growth in bakery enzymes, itself negatively affected by the low carb revolution that has reduced US sales in the bakery industry. The US market represents about 30 per cent of sales revenues for the enzyme leader.

The Mintel study predicts that in the dairy segment, the development of organoleptic properties such as flavour and texture of cheese, has dominated R&D and recombinant DNA technology is being considered as a tool to control the ripening process in cheese.

"Efforts to increase the cheese yield still continue to garner attention of scientists,"​ says Mintel, echoing the latest Chr Hansen​ - Novozymes link up.

Looking to the future, the report suggests that the highly competitive US enzymes for food applications market offers little scope for new entrants, predicting that participants need to continuously innovate to be successful in the product-driven marketplace.