Multi-year investments and continuous innovation are driving growth at AB Enzymes

From the 2025 Annual Report

AB Enzymes is our industrial biotech company specialising in enzymes and is a key part of the portfolio of specialty ingredients businesses that comprises ABFI. Over the past five years, strategic investments in innovation and commercial capabilities have led to strong and sustained growth at AB Enzymes across both established and emerging markets.

A key catalyst in this journey was the 2021 investment to enhance AB Enzymes’ Pilot Plant in Rajamaki, Finland. This has significantly improved upscaling capabilities, resulting in shorter new product commercialisation times and enabling the more efficient implementation of process improvements.

In parallel, the R&D team has expanded by around a third since 2020, accelerating the pace of product innovation and enabling deeper collaboration with AB Enzymes’ major global customers. To further support application development, AB Enzymes has established specialised laboratories across key regions, including baking labs in North America and Asia Pacific, and a pulp and paper lab in EMEA.

These efforts have led to the successful launch of several new products over the past two years which have further strengthened the business’s portfolio and market relevance. These products have been well-received and specifically enhance applications in bakery, pulp and paper and protein processing.

On the commercial front, the sales and marketing team has grown in size by around 50%, with a strategic focus on footprint expansion beyond EMEA and particularly in the Americas and Asia, in line with AB Enzymes’ global growth strategy. Simultaneously, the business has been increasing its brand visibility and customer engagement, participating in major industry events including Food Ingredients China, the IFU Juice Conference in Brazil and TappiCon in Minneapolis.

The combination of all these initiatives has translated into a robust financial performance, with strong annual revenue growth in EMEA and double-digit growth in the rest of the world between 2021 and 2024. This growth reflects the successful execution of the long-term strategy to drive innovation, scale operations and expand globally, while continuing to deliver high performance enzyme solutions tailored to the evolving needs of AB Enzymes’ customers worldwide.