Newport, DE – Governor John Carney, Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock and other officials and dignitaries joined US NewGenzyme President and CEO Gaofeng Liu to and members of the Global Delaware team Thursday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the company’s Newport facility.
“We are very excited to start operations in Newport,” said Gaofeng Liu, president and CEO of US NewGenzyme. “The state of Delaware and New Castle County have been very supportive of our efforts from the very start, and we are confident this will be a successful opportunity for both our company and the state.”
“We are excited and honored to welcome NewGenzyme to Delaware,” said Gov. Carney. “My administration is committed to building a strong innovation economy, and NewGenzyme is a perfect example of this—an entrepreneurial operation that will create high-tech jobs and additional opportunity right here in our state.”
US NewGenzyme, a subsidiary of Chinese food ingredient and flour additive company Southern New Well Food Co., uses a fermentation process to manufacture an all-natural bio-enzyme used to improve flour products. The enzyme will be sold directly to large baking ingredient companies as well as directly to large bakeries and flour mills in the U.S. and abroad. The product will help to replace chemical bleaching agents, which have been banned in China and several European countries. The U.S. market has also seen a significant decrease in the use of chemical bleaching agents, and an increased demand for safer alternatives.
“The bio-enzyme is safer than the chemical alternatives and improves the color, shelf-life and texture of the dough,” Mr. Liu explained. “This enzyme is well-known in the industry, but until now, the challenge has been to produce it affordably on an industrial scale. It took us several years to develop and fine-tune the manufacturing process, but we are now ready to start commercial production in our Delaware facility.”
Delaware provides right location, resources
Although the company’s research operations are in Maryland, the company chose to locate its manufacturing facility in Delaware because of the strong manufacturing legacy in the region, US NewGenzyme Business Manager Mike Tian explained. “Making the move from a lab-scale operation to an industrial-scale operation is a big step, and not an easy one. Here in Delaware, we were able to get the assistance we needed to launch our operation quickly and without a lot of extra steps. Everyone at the state of Delaware has been extremely helpful.”
Mr. Tian noted that the facility is an easy drive to the FDA and close to excellent schools that can provide a talent pool as it ramps up operations. In addition, the plant’s proximity to Interstate 95 provides easy distribution to East Coast customers.
“Delaware has much to offer young bioscience companies, from its strategic location to its outstanding universities and deep talent pool,” said Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock. “NewGenzyme joins a growing number of strong, innovative companies, and we look forward to partnering with them to ensure their long-term success.”
Once the plant is running at full capacity, US NewGenzyme will employ between five and ten people, Mr. Tian said. Many of the positions will be manufacturing jobs, but the plant will also require several science and engineering professionals for quality assurance and plant management.
“We look forward to starting operations very soon, and we are grateful to Global Delaware and to officials around the State and County for all of their support in helping us make this project a reality,” Mr. Tian added.