Winter 2000 Issue — Company Profile on Plantextrakt GmbH & Co.
part of The Martin Bauer Group

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Plantextrakt GmbH & Co. KG in Vestenbergsgreuth manufactures high quality herbal extracts in pasty or dried form, that are primarily supplied to the food industry where they are further processed into finished products. A large number of "ready-to-use" products are therefore available for a wide range of possible applications, including the production of such dietetic varieties as baby food.

Plantextrakt orients its activities to two fundamental concepts: the first of these is to produce cost-effective standard extracts, i.e. high-quality basic products, and the second involves manufacturing extracts that are tailored to the customer's specific wishes and requirements. In doing this, Plantextrakt offers its customers a means of developing products jointly in the company's own laboratories.

This offer of practical cooperation within the sensory framework defined by the customer also enables existing recipes to be adapted in an uncomplicated manner according to changing situations on the market. At the same time, it permits the establishment of a fruitful relationship between supplier and customer, characterized by flexibility and mutual trust. This, for its part, is a prerequisite for the customer's presentation of highly individualized products on the market. The factors required for their manufacture include complex technological processes, which are also necessary in order to reduce the risk of their being imitated within a very short period of time.

As a result, it is true to say that the actual advantage of this cooperation is the consolidation of available know-how, eventually leading to the emergence of properties that put the resulting final products in a unique position in the market and therefore constitute a fundamental requirement for certain market success. The advantages of this type of cooperation with partnership spirit are not only felt by the customer. Plantextrakt is continuously confronted by the requirements and changes taking place within the market in many different forms and is therefore capable of passing the benefits of this gathered experience on to its customers directly.

Innovative concepts for successful products

Concepts that are specifically oriented to the needs of the target group are drawn up according to functional considerations in consultation with the clients and these go well beyond the actual product specification. Based on an established or traditional standard product (e.g. Apfelsaft [apple juice] in the German-speaking region), extracts that have been specially customized for the respective purpose are used to create innovative products which have never existed in this form before (e.g. apple juice with green tea or lemon balm). This approach also gives the extracts themselves a new lease of life, performing the function of a "messenger.

Technical know-how and comprehensive service in the functional food sector

Plantextrakt regards itself as being a company that offers its customer comprehensive support with respect to the planning of innovative products in the functional food sector, for example, and introducing them onto the market. From experience, Plantextrakt knows that, as far as the customer is concerned, the technical side of the extraction process is not as important for him as the ways in which the extracts are actually applied and the strategic orientation pursued by the respective company with the creation of new products. In spite of this, Plantextrakt also attaches importance to maximum possible transparency in the field of production engineering, from the selection of suitable raw materials for industrial manufacturing processes, right through to the shipping of extracts that have been adapted to suit the customer's specific requirements.

Assistance based on sound background knowledge is required to launch a new product onto the market, particularly in the functional food sector, and this must extend beyond just the documentation. Potentially interested companies are therefore initially advised of the anticipated trends. Plantextrakt has compiled a collection of so-called "Functional food brochures" — now numbering around 30 leaflets — on the most important herbal extracts in both German and English, which help to define ideas in more concrete terms with respect to product development. These provide the customer with brief, concise information on the various drugs used and the extracts manufactured from these. New brochures are being added to this collection all the time. Apart from botanical origins, product characteristics and basic specifications, it also contains a bibliography, as well as picture of the labels of products containing the various extracts, that have already been launched successfully in Germany and abroad.

Plantextrakt's integration into the globally active Martin Bauer Group — a concern that describes itself as a "merger of short paths", in which knowledge that has been acquired and acknowledged at international level is made available quickly and precisely — had played an important role in the acquisition and preparation of information that is relevant to the market. The flat hierarchies, high degree of specialization and results-oriented working methods of around 150 members of staff at Plantextrakt also favour the flow of information inside and outside the company.

The customer is given a highly effective marketing instrument in the form of detailed product information to accompany the actual extract. Well-prepared information presented in the right way enables the customer to achieve product differentiation with, in some cases, very simple changes (e.g. replacing normal tea with green tea as the basic material for iced tea), particularly in the functional food sector. Combined with skilful marketing, this can ensure that the product assumes a unique position compared with its rivals. The introduction of a yoghurt with St. John's wort and lemon balm extract, or even birch-tree extract, constitutes just one example of a successfully launched, functionally supplemented standard product. In its capacity as a traditional foodstuff, yoghurt had already been "upgraded" within the framework of the pro-biotic wave. The creation of functional products may well give new impetus to this segment of the market.

Apart from passing selective information on to the customer, the legal classification of the product must also be influenced in an advisory capacity, right from the stage in which the functional food concept is being formulated. Apart from the specific nature of the extraction process, the concentration of extract in the final product is also of critical importance in determining the classification of a product as a foodstuff, a dietetic foodstuff, a food supplement or a pharmaceutical preparation. Any reference to health-giving attributes must be avoided in advertising if the product is anything other than a pharmaceutical preparation — whereas attention may be drawn to the health-supporting effects of extracts in functional food. Plantextrakt therefore also offers its customers assistance with respect to the creation of "claims" for new products. The wishes of the marketing strategists often go way beyond the bounds of possibility. Assistance of this nature can be extremely valuable in order to avoid the need to deal with the legal tightrope walk of product categorization — a process that presents more difficulties in Germany than in some other countries in Europe and abroad -particularly with respect to those products for which labelling and marketing are more important success factors than the actual health-supporting effects of the extracts. The interaction between communication of background knowledge, identification of trends that are becoming apparent at international level due to the global activities of the group, and responsibility for the legal and technological safety of the product give Plantextrakt customers decisive advantages in the market.

Function and flavour — incompatible contradictions?

"If something tastes good, then it can't be good for you!" This is a principle of times long past. Nowadays attention is being concentrated on "squaring the circle" between these two parameters in the most creative and successful way. The weliness­oriented consumers of today are not only more critical in their assessment of taste than was the case in the days when health and flavour were not necessarily discussed in connection with one another, but also of sensory perception in more general terms. Chocolate made with ginseng extract, for example, is unlikely to make a name for itself if the senses suffer as a negative side effect of the benefits to health. This means that modern functional food consumers are not satisfied with effects that are merely conducive to health, they are also demanding excellent flavours and a constant stream of new taste experiences. Plantextrakt therefore considers itself under obligation to discover a constant stream of new taste profiles and trends in the flavour directions and to incorporate these into the new developments. Now, more than ever before, Plantextrakt regards itself as being a partner to industrial concerns, a center of competence, forging ideas for the creation of products that are successful for the company's customers. Its integration into the strong network of the Martin Bauer Group has brought security in terms of the purchasing of raw materials and logistics, at the same time maintaining the corporate identity and flexibility with respect to making decisions for the company's future. Because of its special requirements with respect to the quality and quantity of raw materials, Plantextrakt, for its part, can exert crucial influence on the corporate policy in terms of cultivation, preparation and cut of the raw material, as well as QA, thereby optimising its logistic and production processes.

Flavour and function of Plantextrakt for Health Ingredients

Experience needs to be communicated if it is to bear fruit in the future. This is why Plantextrakt will be presenting itself at the very first Health Ingredients trade fair in Frankfurt this year. The main theme of this year's presentation will again be concentrated on the subject of "function and flavour". Compared with previous trade fairs, a number of new accents are to be established here, however. A great deal of experience as gathered in the handling of bio-quality extracts at the Vitafoods fair in Geneva. After the rather laborious developments in this field in recent years, there is now a greater need to look into the various aspects of bio-quality products more closely at this year's Health Ingredients.

In addition to this, attention will also be concentrated on FTNF aromas and certain special extracts with a particularly high polyphenol, catechin or anthocyanin content (various types of green tea, hibiscus, hops etc).

This is something we can really look forward to.

The Plantextrakt stand will be manned by several competent contact persons, who will be available for the communication and exchange of specialist information in Hall 6, Stand B 121 in Frankfurt am Main between 20th and 22nd November 2000.

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