Newport factory improves flour safety

A new factory in Newport will help with efforts to stop using chemical bleaching agents in flour.

US NewGenzyme, a subsidiary of Chinese food ingredient and flour additive company Southern New Well Food Co., cut the ribbon on its 32,000 square feet factory and office facility on Water Street and plans on starting production next month with visions of quick expansion.

The facility, owned by developer Harvey Hanna, compliments the company's research and development laboratory in Maryland. The business set up shop in Newport without any funding or incentives from the state.

US NewGenzyme uses a fermentation process to manufacture a bio-enzyme that will be sold directly to large baking ingredient companies as well as large bakeries and flour mills.

The product will help replace chemical bleaching agents, which have been banned in China and several European countries. The U.S. market has also seen a significant decrease in the use of chemical bleaching agents, and an increased demand for safer alternatives.

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“The bio-enzyme is safer than the chemical alternatives and improves the color, shelf-life and texture of the dough,” CEO Gaofeng Liu said. “This enzyme is well-known in the industry, but until now, the challenge has been to produce it affordably on an industrial scale."

The company first made contact with Delaware when officials from Global Delaware went to China a few years back. This facility, business manager Mike Tian said, took two years to get from planning stages to today.

“We think this is a good place for us to grow,” said Tian, who will handle operations at the Newport facility.

Tian said a big advantage of NewGenzyme's bio-enzyme product is that it holds more water and moisture in bread and keeps it fresher for a longer period time.

Of the 32,000 square feet, it appears NewGenzyme will be using much less than half of it when production starts before the year ends. The company will continue its research and development efforts in Maryland in the hopes of bringing more products to market in the coming years, which in turn would fill more of the facility out.

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To start, NewGenzyme will employ around 10 people with plans to grow that number in the near future.

Gov. John Carney said at last week's ceremony that a lot of the state's economic focus of late has been the aim-for-the-stars plan to attract Amazon's new headquarters to Delaware. But businesses like NewGenzyme are a lot more indicative of where the focus should be.

"Projects like this are really what it’s about in terms of economic development," Carney said. "Seldom are we going to be swinging for the fences. It’s these kinds of projects, small bio-science manufacturing facilities.

"The thing I like the most about it is you’ve built in expansion space."

Tian noted that the facility is an easy drive to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and close to schools that can provide a talent pool as it ramps up operations. In addition, the plant’s proximity to I-95 provides easy distribution to customers along the east coast.

Delaware State Chamber of Commerce president Rich Heffron said plants like this are one reason he and others are "starting to see" more economic growth.

"This fits in exactly where we’re heading with our education system," Heffron said.

Heffron pointed to nearby William Penn High School and Delcastle along with, of course, the University of Delaware as schools driving education in fields like agriculture, advanced manufacturing, culinary arts and more.

Contact reporter Jeff Neiburg at (302) 983-6772, jneiburg@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.