British-based Thew Arnott, founded in 1864 serving food, feed, and industrial customers across the globe, opened a lecithin blending site in Monticello, Illinois.

According to company officials, Thew Arnott sought to find a site where they believed they could ultimately develop a Food Ingredient Center of Excellence. A 15-acre site was acquired in Monticello with direct rail access and plenty of room for further expansion in the years ahead.

"This is another milestone in more than 150-years of our family business, and a logical next step building on the significant investments of the past 20 years since we began representing Lucas Meyer, The Lecithin People, following the closure of their UK Lecithin processing facility,” said Richard Newman, Managing Director of Thew Arnott. ”Finding a new home for the experienced staff, we opened a state-of-the-art lecithin systems' plant in Wales in 2007; we followed this with production of bespoke Confectionery Coating Systems."

The company produces in house products of confectionery coating systems, lecithin emulsification and instantising systems, and a new range of powder systems to create texture, mouthfeel, and visual appeal.

"When asked three years ago by US customers?to help them with their technical and logistics' challenges, we found a market eager for the customer-intimate service experience, which Thew Arnott has been offering to customers in Europe for many years,” explained Gerry Stuart-Brown, Sales Director. “Our trans-Atlantic technical support soon led to the supply of products across the water and a pledge to bring our processing expertise to the US as soon as possible."