Food & Drink Awards 2020

www.lux-review.com Page 51 LUX 2020 Food & Drink Awards In 1969, Erika and Franz Latka began their modest flavour and extracts manufacturing company, Destilla-Essenzen GmbH & Co. KG in the small German town of Nördlingen. More than fifty years later and while the company may still be in the hands of the same family (although now called the Thienels), Destilla GmbH is an international company and leading manufacturer of natural flavours. Now, recipients of the Best Natural Flavouring Manufacturer award for the third time, Destilla tells us how they are broadening their global network whilst staying true to the traditions that built them. Destilla GmbH Best Natural Flavouring Manufacturer 2020 Sep20336 Since its inception in 1969, Destilla GmbH has been a producer of natural flavours and extracts of the highest quality. Having been passed down the generations of the same family over the past fifty years, Destilla is a unique cohesion of tradition and modernity. Using both the traditional art of distillery and cutting-edge technology, this family-run business has grown organically to become one of the global leaders of flavour manufacturing. Destilla-Essenzen was created in the German town of Nördlingen by husband and wife, Erika and Franz Latka. Thanks to Mr Latka’s many years as a chemist and distiller in the flavour industry in Germany and abroad, the company grew quickly, outgrowing its premises in Nördlingen after only a year and moving to Kleinerdlingen. Over the years, Destilla-Essenzen grew remarkably, whilst always staying true to Mr Latka’s vision for a portfolio of completely natural products. As the years advanced, so too did the technology, allowing Destilla- Essenzen’s products to be of the highest quality, which in turn led to the company becoming one of the leading providers of natural taste solutions for the food and beverage industry by 1985. In the mid-90’s Renata Thienel (née Latka) and Armin Thienel took over the renamed Destilla Aromen GmbH and began international expansion. Since this period, Destilla has been building strong partnerships all across the globe and even today, many of their partners date back to the 1990s. With the onboarding of specialist staff and the creation of inhouse training, Destilla saw exponential development in personnel, whilst simultaneously seeing yet more technological advancements. Today, Destilla GmbH is an international leader of flavour manufacturing, a renewable energy powered giant in the food and drinks industry, but still, fundamentally, a family business committed to creating natural products for their clients. With five decades of experience behind it, Destilla is unmatched by any competitor for expertise and knowledge about the traditional, often complex processes for raw materials that delivers the highest quality of natural flavour products. Indeed, all of Destilla’s processes are rigorous and meticulous, from the raw material analysis to the final testing stages. The Destilla team follows an intense testing process, whilst their international team of flavourists work with R&D and in collaboration with customers to establish the trends and tastes of Destilla’s global clientele. This ensures the highest quality of products, which is confirmed and certified by the company’s FSSC 22.000 certification. However, despite their unmatched expertise in the industry, Destilla remains aware of the growing demand for natural ingredients and products by consumers and as such growing competition. Destilla is unfazed however, relying on their values of honesty, reliability, fairness, long-term and eye-level partnerships and transparency as well as a constant desire to be better than they were the year before, to keep them ahead of the competition. As such, Destilla has been able to create partnerships and sell products to their own competitors and other organisations within their industry. As for Destilla itself, it is an exciting time for the firm, fresh from their fiftieth anniversary celebrations last year. With the third generation of the family now joining the ranks and a continued devotion to enhancing the wellbeing of its staff, Destilla is looking ahead as a united front, that have overcome discrepancies like Covid-19 without any major disruption. As a result, Destilla is able to focus on the future, for example, the introduction of a new EU-regulation in 2022 that will require so- called 95/5-flavours as ingredients. Destilla already has one of the biggest portfolios within this special category but is focusing on developing organic products to answer the high demand from customers and prospects from all over the world. Meanwhile, the firm is also preparing an exclusive surprise for Destilla’s loyal clientele to make up for the lack of real exhibitions over the last few months. While the details are still under wraps, Destilla reassures us it will be very tasty, all-natural and sustainable. We will be keeping a close eye on Destilla’s website to find out more in the near future. Contact: Michael Feil Company: Destilla GmbH Web Address: www.destilla.com

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