Improved Process Demonstrates Advantages of Backward Integration for Carniking™ Customers
Basel, Switzerland, 26 March 2014 – Lonza today announced that it has successfully completed the implementation of the next-generation Carniking™ process. With more than 25 years’ experience producing L-Carnitine, Lonza continues to solidify its reputation as the leading supplier of L-Carnitine in the feed and pet-food industries by offering such innovative, cutting-edge technologies.
Strong customer relationships have helped to create Lonza’s market leadership as the company offers a reliable, cost-effective source of L-Carnitine, which improves the energy metabolism of animals. Lonza, a company founded in 1897 that supplies pharmaceutical, biotech and specialty ingredients, has maintained its strategic focus on building the L-Carnitine franchise for livestock and companion animals over the last decades. By investing heavily in research and development studies, Lonza has defined and demonstrated the efficacy of the vitamin-like substance with successful applications in the target species.
The innovative next-generation Carniking™ process – developed by researchers in Lonza’s Visp, Switzerland, site – allows production directly to the naturally occurring L-Isomer. Using backward integration with raw materials produced in Visp, acetic acid becomes a precursor that is further processed to the molecule L-Carnitine in the state-of-the-art Nansha, China, site. There it is then formulated as Carniking™, Carnifeed™ and Carnichrome™ for the feed industry. This advanced, proprietary process allows Lonza to be independent of raw-material suppliers and ensures quality and full traceability.
Like at all Lonza global sites, quality standards at this site are high, as demonstrated by the ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000, OHSAS 18001, FAMI-QS, HACCP and FSSC 22000 certifications. The regulatory team has a decade of broad food, feed and pharmaceutical experience. About a dozen food and pet-food customer audits have been performed with positive outcomes.
Lonza’s next-generation Carniking™ process has a low environmental impact for solid waste, salt, wastewater and organic waste from solvent recovery. A low environmental impact of production also gives our process a long-term advantage regarding future environmental regulation.
“The benefits for the customer of this proprietary Carniking™ process include the improved flowability and handling characteristics of the L-Carnitine product itself,” said Stephan Jacobs, Lonza’s Global Marketing Manager for Carniking™, which is patented in the United States and is patent pending in other countries.
“Also the new design ensures that reliable, cost-effective supplies are available without interruption. Our latest investment in this proven technology underscores our commitment to the feed business,” he added. “When our customers see the Carniking™ brand, they recognize that there’s ‘quality inside’ and know they can depend on our partnership and our reliable technology design to meet their needs.”
Carniking™, Carnifeed™, Carnichrome™ and Carnipass™ are trademarks of Lonza Ltd., Switzerland. Only products carrying these Quality Seals contain high-quality products from Lonza.