Emulsifier manufacturer Palsgaard A/S plans to invest DKK750 million (US$113 million) to more than double production capacity at its Danish facility by 2024. A new spray cooling tower will add a minimum additional 30,000 metric tons to the company’s spray capacity and will be fully operational by the first quarter of 2023. This facility will be supported by the construction of multiple new reaction, distillation and esterification plants.

The expansion adds to the recently installed emulsifier pellet line with a capacity of 10,000 tons, which is currently being commissioned.

"This project is another major milestone in our development. By 2024 we will be able to double our current production capacity – something that took over a century to reach. It is the result of a decade of significant global growth for our business," says Jakob Thøisen, Palsgaard’s CEO.

In 2019, Palsgaard was the first global emulsifier producer to achieve CO2-neutral production across its global facilities, leading the way for the food ingredients industry. In line with Palsgaard’s commitment to sustainability, the new production capacity will not compromise the company’s CO2-neutral status.

At the time, the inventor of the modern plant-based emulsifier cemented its position as an "early mover," on the carbon production front. All of Palsgaard’s emulsifier and stabilizer solutions are now produced in CO2-neutral factories. Six global production sites are all CO2-neutral, mainly through a shift in energy sources, and the company now plans to ramp up production to double its current capacity. Previously speaking with FoodIngredientsFirst, Thøisen explained the company’s achievement as well as his forecasts for the emulsifier market as a whole.

Now he explains how the company has a number of new initiatives, including establishing a solar park and a biogas facility, which will provide the necessary power and waste management infrastructure to enable the new production capacity to also be carbon neutral. “This aspect was a very important consideration in the planning process for the new investment,” he says. 

Palsgaard is currently the world’s only commercial source of fully sustainable emulsifiers based on Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) SG-certified palm oil and produced by CO2-neutral factories in Denmark, the Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, China and Malaysia. The company’s products are non-GMO and meet halal and kosher requirements.

In addition to its food emulsifiers, Palsgaard supplies the polymers industry with a series of plant-based polymer additives, which are particularly suited for preventing fogging and dust on plastic packaging.