Lao Agricultural Products
Cassava (TAPIOCA) Products
Laos is Southeast Asia’s leading producer of tapioca chips, a versatile and sustainable resource, fuelling various industries across the region. For over a decade, we’ve been a top-five exporter, consistently supplying high-quality dried tapioca chips to Vietnam, Thailand and China, particularly for the booming ethanol industry.
TAPIOCA CHIPS
Tapioca chips are used widely in China, Brazil as well as Korea in the making of alcohol as a substitute to molasses and sweet potato. They are processed from raw tapioca roots into dry chip form. In making chips, the roots are chopped into small pieces and sundried on concrete floor for 2 to 3 days until the 65% moisture content is reduced to about 16% to 18% by weight. The chipping process is mainly designed to reduce the size of the roots, to shorten drying time and to make transport easier after drying.
TAPIOCA STARCH
Tapioca starch is a thickener and stabilizer ingredient of food varieties, for example, soup, breads, sauces etc. Products made with tapioca don’t lose their quality when frozen or reheated because tapioca retains its thickening capabilities throughout processes. Tapioca becomes clear and gel look when cooked and dissolves completely when used as a thickener. Tapioca starch is also used for non-food industries such as for medical, paper, textile, plywood, glue, and alcohol.
TAPIOCA HARD PELLETS
Tapioca pellets are produced and mostly exported to the European Union countries as an animal feed ingredient. The chips are normally pelletized into tapioca pellets or ground into tapioca meals. It is source of high energy by mixing with soy meal at the ratio of 85% tapioca hard pellet and 15% soy meal resulting an equivalent nutritive value of corn for animal feed.