World Grain - December 2008 - 36

INTERVIEW

BestFlours No. 11/08

where grain was subject to an import
duty of over 30 percent. So the mills
had to save wherever they could when
buying their raw materials. At that time
we helped our customer switch from
US wheat to cheaper European lots and
develop a ﬂour capable of holding up to
20 percent cassava. This re-orientation
enabled our customer to make up for
the high import duties.
BestFlours: Are there any more
examples of a demand for composite
ﬂours?

Sandwich slices from Nigeria
TS: An important part of Mühlenchemie's policy is to share our knowledge with our customers. So the two
navigators "Rheology" and "Baking"
give a quick overview of the effects our
ﬂour ingredients have on the properties of dough and baked products. But
the product range is too wide for some
customers. In these cases we reduce the
navigator to about ﬁve or seven additives
that enable the customer to achieve the
speciﬁed standards and become less
dependent on the raw materials market.
One such possibility is an individual
mixture of amylase, esterase, glucose
oxidase and hemicellulase.
BestFlours: The price of wheat has
exploded in the last few years. Are you
ﬁnding a greater demand for the use of
alternative raw materials like manioc,
sweet potato and sorghum as a result
of this development?
TS: If there is a need for adding raw
materials of this kind it is usually on the
African continent. In one West African
country, for example, we had a situation

The mills will have to react faster and
faster to changes in the market and the
availability of raw materials - and we
at Mühlenchemie will make our contribution to ﬁnding suitable solutions.
Besides advice by telephone and e-mail,
and our existing services on the spot,
we intend to offer more courses for our
customers and partners at the new training centre here in Ahrensburg. Because
advice will always be what is needed
most.

TS: We recently had an inquiry from
India about how to replace part of the
wheat with maize. It can be done - but
for some products you have to make up
for the low gluten level with suitable
additives. And a pasta manufacturer
wanted to know whether he could use
ten percent rice instead of hard wheat.
In principle that's possible too, but a
tailor-made enzyme should be added to
prevent the starch from boiling out.
BestFlours: Eating habits have changed
enormously over the past ten years.
Increasing prosperity is reﬂected in the
market. Doesn't that mean you have to
alter the advice you give?
TS: We are noticing the change, of
course. Take Russia, for example. For
years the Russians had only one ﬂour
quality for making all their bakery products, and now as many as ﬁve different
ﬂours are needed. There is a demand for
international products like hamburger
buns and croissants. And the bakeries
that make these products are asking
for wheat ﬂours with very individual
properties. The Russian milling industry
is having to respond to these demands
- and we are helping it.
BestFlours: If you risk a look into the future: what changes will it bring for mills
and ingredients manufacturers?
TS: The whole agricultural sector is undergoing a meteoric process of change.

A bakery in Yangon, Myanmar.
Introduction to the art of making
plaited bread

World Grain - December 2008

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