Ajinomoto starts making coffee extract in-house

The company has begun in-house manufacturing of the product to reduce costs and ensure a stable supply for a product it has previously been importing, says the Nikkei.

Mannooligosaccharides are extracted from coffee beans, using heat to hydrolise the polysaccharide, mannan. It is produced in liquid or powder form and used in food products. Research has suggested that the extract can play a beneficial role in intestinal health.

Global demand for the extract is said to be rising, and Ajinomoto say that it aims to sell $34.9m worth of mannooligosaccharide-containing products in FY 2006, a 60 per cent increase from 2005.

According to the report from Nikkei, production will be based at the Suzuka plant that has already seen $6.05m of investment with the addition of extraction and refining equipment.

The plant is reported to have a production capacity of around 400 tons a year.

Ajinomoto reported a 15 per cent drop in operating income for the year to 31 March, on the back of falling prices of lysine, an important amino acid-based product, and higher raw material prices.

However, net sales increased by 3 per cent for the to $9.57bn and the firm has said that it expects sales from foreign food operations to increase 22 per cent to $1.05bn in fiscal 2006.