05.01.02
RFI Ingredients: Providing Innovative Natural Ingredients
With four main product areas, a new partnership agreement and a renewed focus on truly unique products, RFI Ingredients, Blauvelt, NY, stands poised to expand its reach throughout the nutraceuticals industry.
The company has historically been aligned with the mainstream food industry, but in recent years has expanded its concentration to incorporate functional foods and dietary supplements. A recent alliance with fellow ingredient supplier Hauser/Botanicals International, Long Beach, CA, is helping RFI broaden its scope even further. The alliance will combine the strengths of both companies—RFI in functional foods and Hauser in dietary supplements—to better serve the worldwide nutraceuticals industry.
RFI chief executive officer Jeff Wuagneux commented on the partnership. “The agreement with Hauser is an example of a partnership that gives a complete company to the industry. We will now be vertically integrated from product development through manufacturing to offer science-based natural ingredients, including custom blends, to the food and dietary supplement industry.”
RFI is involved in four main product areas including antioxidants, antimicrobials and natural preservatives; functional foods; natural colors and natural extracts, which includes botanicals as well as fruit and vegetable extracts. In terms of specific product highlights, RFI—through an already-existing agreement withHauser—supplies StabilEnhance™ water soluble and oil soluble rosemary products. Applications include many functional food and beverage products.
Another major component in the RFI portfolio is OxyPhyte™, a line of products with high antioxidant activity as measured by the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) method. The OxyPhyte line includes liquid and powder blends as well as unique single ingredients. The entire line is generally recognized as safe (GRAS), Kosher certified and boasts low flavor profiles for the food industry. The newest additions to the line include OxyPhyte Pomegranate and OxyPhyte White Tea offerings.
Product development continues, with several new formulations for weight loss and diabetes in the works. In addition to its lines of branded products, RFI also offers product formulation, a complete range of customized blends and a fully equipped in-house applications laboratory to meet customer testing requirements effectively and efficiently.
Finally, pet food is also a burgeoning market for RFI. Currently, the company supplies a line of high antioxidant branded ingredients under the OxyProtect™ brand.
In terms of international markets, China is a recent focus for RFI, with an ongoing venture and exciting plans for the future. Mr. Wuagneux commented on the business. “We have been working on establishing our company in China for the last five years. We are currently bringing products out of China as well as supplying proprietary formulations and specialty ingredients into that market. The region shows tremendous potential,” said Mr. Wuagneux, “and we are working on manufacturing partnerships that will help us to better serve our North American and European customers as well.”
Speaking of Europe, RFI is involved in an alliance with French ingredient supplier Diana Vegetal, Antrain, France, which offers a line of natural colors as well as natural functional food ingredients in powder and liquid form.
RFI Ingredients
300 Corporate Drive, Suite 14
Blauvelt, NY 10913
Telephone: 845-358-8600;
800-962-7663
Fax: 845-358-9003
E-mail: rfi@rfiingredients.com
Website: www.rfiingredients.com
