Raisio Begins Building U.S. Stanol Ester Plant

Finnish food and chemicals group Raisio has begun building a stanol ester plant in South Carolina for start-up in early 1999.

The $22 million factory is expected to quadruple output of the company's cholesterol-cutting food agent stanol ester to 6,000 tons in 1999.

Stanol ester is the key ingredient in Raisio's cholesterol-reducing Benecol margarine.

The need for a U.S. plant was the result of Raisio's agreement with Johnson & Johnson, giving J&J unit McNeil Consumer Products the rights to Benecol in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. In November the agreement was expanded for worldwide licensing. (See Food Online's article, Tall Oil Derivative Bids for a Place in Cholesterol-Lowering Foods)

McNeil is expected to launch Benecol in food products in the U.S. this autumn, but has not yet identified the products.

The plant will be built by Raisio Staest US Inc, a subsidiary of Raisio Benecol Ltd. Raisio's Finnish stanol ester plant was commissioned in December 1996, after launching Benecol margarine on the Finnish market in 1995.

Charleston was chosen as the site for the plant partly because Raisio had a preliminary agreement on a joint venture to develop raw sterol production in the Charleston region with U.S. group Westvaco Corp.