Xylitol production struggles, but Fazer asserts its commitment to the Lahti plant

According to Fazer’s information, the oat husk xylitol plant is the only one of its kind in the world.

Last week, Fazer announced that it would start negotiations on changes at its xylitol plant. The plant has not been able to produce xylitol in line with its targets.

The xylitol plant started operations in Lahti about three years ago. It produces xylitol from oat husks. The investment was more than €50 million.

The motivation is strong as the demand for healthy food is growing and so is the demand for alternative sweeteners.

Coughing in production is not due to a single issue, but there have been several problems.

According to Mäkelä’s information, the production plant that makes xylitol from oat husks is the only one of its kind in the world. Therefore, the difficulties have not come as a complete surprise.

The innovation has been thoroughly tested before making the investment decision, but there have still been enough challenges.

– The factory is a high-tech and innovative production facility. It has numerous chemical and technical processes. Coordinating everything and especially increasing efficiency and production volume has been more challenging than expected.

Many problems have also been successfully solved, adds Mäkelä.

Fazer continues to explore alternatives.

– For example, we study other industrial side streams as a raw material for xylitol. Of course, we investigate other things, but this is an example of where we can get new lines of investigation in addition to oat husks.

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