FROM THE FIELD TO THE FACTORY:
BY G E O R G I E D E S A I L LY
Sugarcane has been the backbone of the Queensland economy for over 150 years and now in a world first, an Ayr based company has found a way to turn virgin cane into a powdered fibre containing endless health benefits.
The cane flour, known as Kfibre, is being used to counter the effects of health disorders such as acid reflux and constipation worldwide. The breakthrough technology was developed in the Burdekin by local company, Health Food Symmetry (HFS), formerly known as KFSU Pty Ltd, after years of research and millions of dollars of investment. Company Managing Director, Gordon Edwards, says the project has had the backing of consumers, industry and the medical fraternity since their small-scale production started in April 2006. “During this time, sugar mills and sugar farmers were experiencing low profitability and we thought this would be a great diversification project to utilise the whole of the sugarcane plant,” explains Gordon, whose background in marine engineering assisted in developing the required processing technology. “This functional food ingredient originates from the fibrous component of sugarcane which has traditionally been burnt as boiler fuel in the sugar milling process. “When added to foods, Kfibre has shown to lower the glycaemic index of the food, and exhibit health benefits associated with dietary fibres such as improved bowel and gut health and is used as a flour-based alternative for celiacs.” Kfibre first hit the shelves of Queensland pharmacies in 2010 before expanding nation-wide. As a result of the highly positive consumer response, HFS opened their $6 million dietary fibre plant in Ayr in 2015, which
34
was funded by a $2 million grant from the Federal Government and $4 million from investors. Alongside injecting over $2 million dollars into the Burdekin economy every year, the company is also the first to bring commercial scale sugar cane dietary fibre to the international market, with their most recent distributor being Amazon in the U.S. “Traditionally sugarcane has produced only one export crop being sugar, which is highly vulnerable to the vagaries of commodity pricing. Kfibre has helped the industry to diversify, and value add, particularly for farmers as the product has a higher return than sugar,” continues Gordon. “From our plant facility, we have the capacity to produce around 1,000 tonnes per annum using approximately 10,000 tonnes of sugarcane and we employ 14 people at the factory plus an additional 10 further down south. “We have distributors in the U.S, Canada, the Phillipines and the EU, have two companies that are looking at taking us into the Chinese market, we have several hundred stockists in Australia and the company is also cash positive.” They are not only assisting the globe’s population with intestinal issues but are also now helping improve the shelf life of foods through their US distributor’s new product, ‘WoW Protein Donuts,’ which contains their new sugarcane-based ingredient called Phytocel. The product launched in the US through Walmart in
