Speaking in light of Danisco’s launch earlier in the year of a new enzyme system, Alphalase Sorghum, designed to help brewers in continents such as Africa maximise use of locally produced materials, Brøchner Sørensen said:
“What we see as a trend in the brewing industry, as in other industries, is that they [brewers] are going to try to have a more sustainable food production.”
He added: “That could include using local raw materials that don’t need to be malted, because malting is an energy-consuming process. Using local raw materials they [brewers] might also save on transportation, and can support the local community.”
Brøchner Sørensen said that sorghum brewing (using Danisco’s enzymes) allowed producers to cut down on use of malt as an expensive commodity.
But in light of soaring prices for commodities such as malt, did Danisco keep a close eye on commodity prices when developing enzyme solutions for the brewing industry?
“Not really, because commodity prices go up and down and you can not really forecast when it will go up or down. That depends on political situation and the weather conditions and so on,” said Brøchner Sørensen.
He added: “So we try to develop enyzmes where where we are told by our customers that there will be a need in the future.”