Global lipids, fats and oils manufacturer Alianza Team quietly opened its $36.4 million processing facility in Goldsboro, NC, in mid-March, marking the Colombian company’s first US facility.
The ingredient manufacturer, which is headquartered in Bogotá, began work on the blending and finishing facility in 2024.
The factory receives essential refined ingredients by truck and rail and assembles them in products to be distributed throughout the US, Alianza Team explained in 2024. Alianza Team noted that the new plant also provides rapid delivery to the Northeastern US, where most of its customers are based.
Alianza Team projects that by 2029, the facility will produce more than 13,120 metric tons. Alianza Team has a widespread presence throughout Latin America, including operations in Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Curaçao, Argentina and Bolivia.
The lipids, fats and oils that Alianza Team produces stretch across the food supply, including bakery, confectionery and chocolate, according to Philip Forbes-Pryer, marketing director, USA.
Functional fats and category solutions
Forbes-Pryer explained that the facility also works with industry partners on bespoke solutions for food products.
“We typically sell functional fats, so if you have a category problem like reducing saturated fat in a product or reducing sugar, or removing artificial colors,” he said.
Fats and oils are in “pretty much everything we consume,” according to Forbes-Pryer, who explainedthey provide everything from texture to mouthfeel.
“Chocolate is an example. We’re working on platforms to replace cocoa mass … that helps solve the problems of sustainability of exotic fats,” he said. “We’ve got products that can actually reduce saturated fats in products, so it almost feels like an oxymoron to utilize fat to reduce fat in a product, but through our research and development and technical teams, we’ve solved the problem.”
That means cutting fats in popular products like cookies and pastries, he said.
Innovation driving growth in CPG
Trends like GLP-1 use and the Make America Healthy Again movement are driving change in the consumer packaged goods industry and requiring food and beverage manufacturers to innovate, said Forbes-Pryer.
“There are a lot of regulatory changes and consumer behavior changes, so how do we innovate within that space, which is a unique challenge,” he said.
Consumers are increasingly savvy about what they eat, and they want to understand the ingredients that are in their food, he said.
“So, it’s a great opportunity for us, because we thrive on innovation,” said Forbes-Pryer. “It’s kind of what we love to do, so we see these category problems as things we can really partner with organizations to actually bring solutions rapidly to the marketplace.”
