Naturalia Ingredients was recently established in a venture between Eridania Sadam part of the Bologna-based food and agro-industrial group, Gruppo Maccaferri and the Canine Foraci a long-established Sicilian firm that specialises in the production of wines, grape musts and juices that are exported worldwide.
The project aims to use Eridania Sadam's knowledge of the food and drink sector to establish Naturalia Ingredients as a leader in the production of natural sugars from grapes.
Production began at the facility in Mazara del Vallo, Western Sicily, last month. The site has a capacity of around 25t a day.
It is located in the Trapani province of Sicily, which is an area that contains a vast number of vineyards and is considered to be the most densely cultivated grape-growing area in the whole of Europe.
Naturalia Ingredients has implemented a production process that permits the extraction of fructose and glucose in liquid and crystalline form directly from concentrated grape juice.
This process takes place without modifying the essential characteristics of the primary ingredient, which means the products' natural bases are not altered by transforming liquid into crystal.
The new facility covers an area of 30,000m2 and has a production capacity of approximately 9,000t of crystalline sugars a year. Production began last month and initially involved 12 employees, which will increase to 20 with continuous production throughout the year.