AGRANA presents innovative ice creams and organic, vegan street food at the IFT FIRST Expo in Chicago

AGRANA, one of Austria’s leading food and industrial goods groups, this week presented novelties from its fruit preparation and starch product ranges at the international food expo IFT FIRST in Chicago. The company invited visitors to embark on an innovative culinary journey around the world and transformed its stand into a small street food festival.

At the world’s largest B2B food fair in Chicago, AGRANA, the global market leader in fruit preparations, presented its innovative ice cream creations: World cuisine inspired the product developers at AGRANA to create varieties such as Vietnamese Coffee, as an affogato, or Summer in Paris, an ice cream with a mild cheesy taste served in macaron shells with berry jelly. London Fog was an Earl Grey tea ice cream with a lavender swirl. AGRANA aims to profit from ongoing growth in the American ice cream market, forecast to grow from a current USD 19.9 billion to USD 21.9 billion (EUR 20.1 billion) by 2026[1]. The company presently has four fruit processing sites in the USA.

The market for vegan food has also seen a further increase in recent years and is expected to reach a volume of USD 60.6 billion (EUR 56.5 billion) in the USA by 2026, which is equivalent to a doubling within six years (CAGR of 12 % from 2020 to 2026)¹. This growth is being driven by rising awareness of sustainability, animal welfare and healthy nutrition. AGRANA is well positioned to benefit as a result of its subsidiary Marroquin Organic International Inc., based in Santa Cruz, California, which distributes AGRANA’s wide range of organic starches. Many of AGRANA’s starch products, such as potato fibres, corn starches and wheat proteins, are used in vegan meat substitutes as well as in beverages, animal feed and pharmaceutical products.

Top chef Mike Kubalewski proved this at the IFT FIRST Expo with vegan organic dishes. For example, Gyros, Korean BBQ stir fry, gluten-free bread, waffles and chocolate muffins were freshly prepared in the food truck and handed out to the many visitors.

“We are delighted about the successful presentation of our innovative products at one of the most important trade fairs for the food and confectionery industry in the USA. The IFT FIRST is an important leading trade fair where our comprehensive solutions attracted considerable interest, particularly among those customers who would like to integrate current sustainability trends into their products,” stresses AGRANA CEO Stephan Büttner.

About AGRANA

AGRANA converts agricultural raw materials into high-quality foods and numerous industrial intermediate products. Around 9,000 employees at 55 production sites worldwide generate annual Group revenue of approximately EUR 3.8 billion. Established in 1988, the company is the global market leader in fruit preparations and the world’s leading producer of apple and berry juice concentrates. In addition, its Starch segment is also a major manufacturer of custom starch products (made from potato, corn and wheat) and of bioethanol. AGRANA is the leading sugar producer in Central and Eastern Europe.

For queries, please contact:

Markus Simak
Public Relations
+43 1 21137 12084
markus.simak@agrana.com
 

This announcement is available in German and English at www.agrana.com.
 

 ^[1] Source: EUROMONITOR