Fruit, starch and sugar producer Agrana has announced that it will invest in its research and development (R&D) facilities located in France and Austria.

Agrana will invest €2.6m in France. This will see the opening of a new development centre for fruit preparation in Mitry-Mory.

It will also upgrade the Mitry-Mory development centre and add 700m2 of laboratory space.

In its home market of  Austria, Agrana will invest $800,000 to expand its research centre ARIC in Tulln.

The 4,000m2 research centre is one of the main R&D subsidiaries within the Agrana Group.

It will add 300m2 of space for research purposes.

In total, the company will invest nearly €3.4m at the two R&D sites.

Agrana CEO Johann Marihart said: “Agrana is the global market leader in fruit preparations. That’s why it is important to be an innovator and not a market follower with me-too products.

“In our role as a first mover in regional markets, we try to pick up on new development trends as early as possible.

“We develop products in close collaboration with our customers to reflect local market requirements and these latest trends. Our global network of product developers enables us to launch over 1,000 new fruit preparation products on the market every year.”

The company also said that, as part of its strategy to develop new products in its fruit, starch and sugar sectors, it presently invests nearly €20m in its R&D activities.