LONDON, Sept. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the alcoholic beverage ingredients market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes global bio-science company Chr. Hansen with the 2014 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for New Product Innovation Leadership.
In the recent years Chr. Hansen has pioneered the production of innovative non-Saccharomyces yeast and malolactic bacteria, which adds value to the wine industry through improved efficiency as a result of good fermentation management.
"Viniflora® is an umbrella brand that covers the two types of microorganisms used in winemaking to manage fermentation: yeasts, to control alcoholic fermentation; and bacteria, to control malolactic fermentation," noted Ms. Jack. "Viniflora® culture products offer reliability and value for money, evidenced by the fact that most of them are ready for direct inoculation into the must and do not require careful rehydration, acclimatization, or activation protocols, thus reducing risks and saving time."
The company has shown great success in manufacturing a range of products that allows winemakers to mimic successful wild alcoholic fermentation and innovative cultures to manage malolactic fermentations.
"The overall benefit of these innovations is the optimization of wine quality and production processes. It also reduces the time to market and downgrading, increases safety and traceability, while satisfying the rising demand for innovation."
Viniflora® microbial solutions are used to bio-protect grape juice, must and wine and manage fermentations in winemaking, a critical production step.
Mimicking successful wild alcoholic fermentation
Chr. Hansen identified several species of yeast obtained from the juice of crushed grapes (termed 'must'). These species enhances the complexity of wine and effectually, disproved the wine industry's paradigm that all non-Saccharomyces yeasts have negative impact on wines.
In August 2009, Chr. Hansen launched its first pure non-Saccharomyces product, Viniflora® PRELUDE™, to kick-start fermentation and deliver more complexity to red, white, and/or rose wines.
This product is a specialty yeast for standard, premium, and ultra-premium wine producers that helps them mimic successful wild alcoholic fermentation. The product increases wine flavour complexity and mouth feel and it is used in combination with classical yeast for winemaking.
Additionally, by replacing completely wild ferments such as wild yeasts, moulds or bacteria with a product that has undergone biosafety checks, Chr. Hansen helps winemakers by reducing downgrades during this critical phase.
Today Chr. Hansen's range of non-Saccharomyces yeasts for the wine industry is made of 3 pure strain products with clear unique selling points: PRELUDE™ for mouth feel, CONCERTO™ to balance red wines from Mediterranean climates, FROOTZEN™ to boost wine flavour intensity.
New malolactic culture NoVA™ launched in 2014 reverses classical winemaking procedure
The most recent innovation by Chr. Hansen, Viniflora® NoVA™, reverses the classical winemaking procedure. Normally, the winemaking process in red wine production takes place in two fermentation stages: alcohol fermentation, which involves the transformation of sugars into ethanol and flavouring by yeast; and malolactic fermentation, where lactic acid bacteria transform malic acid into lactic acid and the wine gains another layer of fermentation-related flavours.
Viniflora® NoVA™, by allowing winemakers to manage malolactic fermentation in must immediately after crushing and alcoholic fermentation, enables them to bio-protect their wines faster through fermentation management. Typically, with NoVA™, malolactic fermentation is supervised in one to three days as opposed to 3 to 12 weeks. The wines complete malolactic and alcoholic fermentation within 10 days and are then microbiologically stable.
NoVA™ has been developed for red wines from warm and hot climates such as in south France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, where nearly 50 percent of all wines are made today. This product improves the wine quality by using fewer sulfites (preservatives), thereby meeting consumers' needs for healthier, more natural, and clean-labelled products.
Proven track record
Apart from adhering to specifications by the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), the strains selected by Chr. Hansen and the number of product applications give it a competitive edge. Also, Chr. Hansen selects strains tailored to a specific application, so the value proposition for each product is clear to its customers.
Furthermore, acknowledging consumers' desire for food safety and sustainability, Chr. Hansen uses wine cultures to protect the quality potential of the grapes and the musts. From a sustainability point of view, more flavour and quality is obtained from the raw materials.
"Chr. Hansen has a proven track record in pioneering innovation for the wine industry," observed Ms. Jack. "This is evident from its continual launch of products, which add value to the wine industry by improving sustainability, efficiency, and ensuring consumers have access to high-quality, safe, and diverse wines."
ABOUT THE AWARD
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed an innovative element in a product by leverage leading-edge technologies. The award recognizes the value added features/benefits of the product and the increased ROI it offers customers, which in turn increases customer acquisition and overall market penetration potential.
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ABOUT CHR. HANSEN
Chr. Hansen is a global bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. The products include cultures, enzymes, probiotics and natural colors, and all solutions are based on strong research and development competencies coupled with significant technology investments. Revenue in the 2012/13 financial year was EUR 738 million. The company holds a leading market position in all its divisions: Cultures & Enzymes, Health & Nutrition and Natural Colors. It has more than 2,500 dedicated employees in over 30 countries and main production facilities in Denmark, France, USA and Germany. Chr. Hansen was founded in 1874 and is listed on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen.
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Contact:
Laurent Hubert
Marketing Director, Wine and Fermented Beverages
Chr. Hansen A/S
E-mail: dklhu@chr-hansen.com
www.chr-hansen.com/wine
Adelaide Mendes
Best Practices Group
Frost & Sullivan
Tel.: +44-(0)-207-9157869
E-mail: adelaide.mendes@frost.com
