As the world of fats and oils has changed over the past decade, VFI has developed a special skill set and technology to meet the needs of modern food, snack, cosmetics and infant food producers.
Technologists at VFI have developed methods in the soft refining of vegetable oils, preserving the oils' natural features while avoiding contaminants like glycidyl esters (GE) and 3-MCPGED. There is a high demand for such ultra-low contaminant oils from the infant nutrition industry, but also, increasingly, from food producers that are keen for fats that don't just meet legal requirements, but also contain the least possible amount of these harmful substances. VFI has the ability to make oils with no detectable amounts of 3-MCPD or GE (see figure below).
Palm oil alternatives
VFI has also developed alternatives to palm oil at reasonable costs as many consumers and retailers request non-palm processed food products. For food manufacturers, it is not an easy task to find a replacement for palm oil. It has excellent product features, and became increasingly important after fats containing trans-fatty acids were banned ten years ago.
VFI puts a focus on raw materials of European origin to replace palm oil and to use as little as possible of other tropical oils. For many applications, it is possible to avoid tropical oils, which helps to improve the footprint of the final products. This again is rewarded by retailers and environmental NGOs who check the products in food stores for their sustainability.
To ensure oil freshness, VFI has invested heavily in stateof- the-art storage tanks with protective inner atmospheres to ensure the highest quality possible. A farm of big and small tanks, some of them temperature controlled, help VFI to hold a wide variety of oils available. For organic products, VFI offers a variety of suitable oils, packed or in bulk. As VFI runs its own highly efficient oil press and refinery, customers of VFI enjoy highest product safety.
An experienced team in quality management monitors the supply chain of all organic raw materials. Long-term partnerships with organic farmers make sure that only the most trusted organic agriculture produces oilseeds for VFI's products.
Meeting demand
As a mid-sized family operated company, VFI knows the needs of manufacturing customers. The team has developed a strong understanding of the different requirements and demands of each branch of the food-manufacturing world, and has created individualised solutions for all.
Branches served by VFI include the bakery industry; confectionery industry; snack producers; meat processors; dairy industry; vegetarian and vegan food manufacturers; organic food makers; infant formula industry; infant ready meal industry; and many more.
VFI technologists assist customers in the development of individual solutions. VFI's ability to produce relatively small batches allows special product development for unique applications. Oils and fats can be supplied in almost any packaging solution. For liquid oils and soft-melting blends, IBCs are the most convenient solution, while solid fats are either packed crystallised in boxes or delivered in temperature-controlled bulk tank trucks.
At VFI, product expertise meets common sense of food manufacturing and customer care.
