Emerald Kalama Chemical, a business group of Emerald Performance Materials, has announced plans to expand its facility in Widnes, UK to increase capacity for its Kalama® Hexyl Cinnamic Aldehyde (HCA) and Amyl Cinnamic Aldehyde (ACA) products. These ingredients are used in the company's line of flavor and fragrance ingredients. The expansion is part of Emerald's strategy to expand its global footprint and meet increased demand for its products. The company expects the expanded facility to be fully operational in 2017. Emerald is a leading global supplier of HCA and ACA, as well as other high purity aroma chemicals.
The board of directors of Emerald Kalama Chemical, a business group of Emerald Performance Materials, approved plans for an expansion project at its Widnes, UK facility that will add capacity for Kalama® Hexyl Cinnamic Aldehyde (HCA) and Amyl Cinnamic Aldehyde (ACA), key ingredients in the business's line of Kalama® flavor and fragrance ingredients.
This latest investment in the company's line of high purity aroma chemicals follows the company's acquisition of the Widnes, UK operation from Innospec Widnes Ltd last July, which significantly expanded the business's capabilities and product portfolio. The company has been producing Kalama® HCA and ACA at its facility in Kalama, Wash. for many years, but because these high purity materials are important ingredients in a wide span of applications—including fine fragrance, personal care, household care, and food and beverage—Emerald plans to meet increased demand by leveraging the newest UK operation.
"This investment is an important part of our overall strategy to expand our global footprint,” said Peter Fielder, vice president and general manager, flavor and fragrance. “Production of key products at multiple production sites is an integral piece of this strategy. Many customers in fine fragrances, personal care and home care markets have operations in Europe, and ingredients such as HCA and ACA are used in many applications as an important part of the fragrance package. This expansion builds on our investment to create an operation for specialty aroma chemicals in EMEA and enhances our infrastructure to support this core market.”
Emerald has completed the trial testing phase for the project and expects full commercial samples to be available by the end of 2016. The process is expected to be fully operational in 2017.
Emerald is a leading global supplier of HCA and ACA, as well as benzaldehyde and a wide range of other high purity, nature-identical aroma chemicals based on benzaldehyde, terpenes and Florosol, a muguet/lily note. Emerald has previously completed three major expansion projects for Kalama® flavor and fragrance ingredients at its Kalama, Wash. facility, more than doubling capacity. In addition, Emerald announced a 40-million-dollar investment to increase capacity for benzaldehyde and benzoic acid at its Rotterdam, Netherlands facility last year.
HCA is an aromatic aldehyde used to create a jasmine-like floral character with green, fatty notes in applications such as fine fragrances, soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, antiperspirants/deodorants and laundry and household care products. ACA, a close relative of HCA, produces a less fatty jasmine-like character, and higher aliphatic acetal derivatives can produce a cocoa-like aroma. Both HCA and ACA are easily blendable and are also commonly used as fragrance fixatives.