From the President's Desk

I'm often asked why we refer to TIC Gums as a texture and stabilization company instead of a gum company. The answer reveals a key strength for TIC Gums. That strength is a focus on the functionality our products bring to our customers in lieu of a spotlight on the products themselves.

Most companies in the hydrocolloid world supply a product line or two...xanthan or guar or gum arabic, etc...whereas at TIC Gums our product line is much more diverse. As a result, we don't have an inherent interest or bias to sell one particular solution. At TIC Gums, motivation to sell a particular ingredient is replaced by a drive to sell the correct, technical solution. We have the freedom to focus on what is best for the customer, no matter what textural or stabilization solution that may be. Of course, often the most functional and cost-effective solution is actually a combination of ingredients and not a single gum or starch. In most cases, food product development has multiple functional needs, such as suspension, emulsification, and a unique and specific texture map. Trying to force a single ingredient to serve all three purposes usually involves compromising in at least one area. In many cases, it is texture that suffers.

In volatile supply times, this strength becomes even more important. An example is what's occurring today in the guar market. With unprecedented demand from the oil and natural gas industries for hydraulic fracturing, availability and pricing are a major challenge for the food industry. We are protecting our guar customers through our conservative inventory positions and forward planning. We are also able to help customers move to other technologies with similar end application functionality. This expertise provides a means to guard against supply shortages and contain costs. With the supply chain and business model flexibility to move significant volumes of guar gum to functional blends based on cellulose gum, xanthan, tara gum, konjac and others, we are able to work in our customers' best interest and provide a technical resource to help move from one technology to another. This strategy doesn't make sense as a guar supplier, but it does as a texture and stabilization supplier. That's why we prefer not to be known for our products, but rather the functionality they provide and the expertise we possess.