Successful Partnership
Beacon Commodities Ltd have been involved in a joint-venture with Queen for Gelatine Ltd, Egypt, over a number of years. In the last few years, Queen have moved into a purpose built modern factory on the outskirts of Cairo. The joint-venture between Sherif Helmy, Chairman of Queen, and Beacon Commodities Ltd has grown over many years and involves regular meetings and factory visits in Egypt.
Queen and Beacon Commodities are building a third larger factory to increase capacity with a view to increase the supply of animal glues.
Queen have been involved in the production of animal glues for many years and in 2008 moved into their first factory. Within 4 years the business had out-grown the capacity of that factory and a second purpose built factory was constructed, where they now manufacture blended animal glues, made from both hide glue and bone glue.
The factory can manufacture any type of glue from 165 bloom up to 600 bloom. These can be specially blended to suit specific industries and specifications.
The production is controlled by Queen for Gelatine (www.queenforgelatine.com) and the sales/marketing/finance by Beacon Commodities Ltd.
Animal hide glue
A complex commodity, requiring expert processing.
Hide glue has been extracted from animal skins for over 4,000 years. Skins are treated with lime for 60-90 days to remove hair. They are then washed by boiling in water to remove the gelatine (collagen). At this stage, the liquid gelatine is concentrated and dried into “noodles” before milling. The three main uses for gelatine are: edible gelatine for foods and sweets; pharmaceutical gelatine to make capsules; and industrial gelatine for book binding, sandpaper, armaments, bank notes, mineral refining, matches to name but a few. Beacon Commodities source direct from hide glue factories around the world arranging shipments direct from factories to our customers. We independently check the quality of the glue supplied and visit our suppliers to audit their factories, many of whom are ISO and /or BRC accredited.
Our hide glue is used in the manufacture of “Jelly Glue“. We supply a wide range of blooms and viscosities used in the production of “Jelly Glues” around the world.
We also handle fish glue, rabbit glue, milk glue (casein), vegetable glue, seaweed glue and gums.
Contact tommy@beaconcommodities.co.uk or +44 1473 810 107.
Animal bone glue
Limited number of manufacturers in the world.
Bone glue is extracted from large boned animals. High grade bone glue is used to make edible and pharmaceutical gelatine. Bones are first degreased to recover the fat (tallow which can be used for soap or candles), then de-mineralised to become soft and rubbery, ossien. The glue is then extracted by steam / water and the liquid glue is concentrated, dried and milled. Industrial bone glue is usually a lower strength or bloom, between 65 to 200, so the bones do not go through the de-mineralisation process. The rest of the process is the same except they can be made into “pearls” or a powder. Beacon Commodities source direct from bone glue factories around the world. We are approved with Sedex, a leading responsible sourcing consultant.
Our bone glue is used in the manufacture of “Jelly Glue“. We supply a wide range of blooms and viscosities used in the production of “Jelly Glues” around the world.
Contact tommy@beaconcommodities.co.uk or +44 1473 810 107.
Animal bones
Beacon Commodities import all types of animal bones from degreased bones for the manufacture of gelatine or bone char (Charcoal) to degelatinised bones, the residue after animal glue has been extracted. We handle Calcined bones which are the degelatinised bones that have been calcined at over 1000 degrees centigrade which are used in the production of bone china and mineral refining. Water ground calcined bone are also available. We deal in bone meal, bone fat (for candles and soap), and bone oil which is used as a vermin repellent. There are very few bone glue factories in the world today and Beacon Commodities work with the majority of them to merchandise their bone glue and bone products. We help develop their manufacturing process to add value to such items as calcine bone and water ground bone ash. Animal by-products are notoriously complicated to ship due to governmental concerns about the spread of diseases – we are familiar with all the documentation required for such commodity movements.
Hoof & Horns
We deal with only approved suppliers around the globe.
Beacon Commodities import a variety of hoof and horns from selected approved suppliers around the world for industrial uses. These by-products, while being lower in value, still have important uses which in many cases do not have a synthetic alternative, so it is better to use these products than consign them to land fill. The horns are cleaned and the “pith” from the centre of the horn is removed by hammering by hand the outside of the horn until the pith comes free. While with hooves they are also cleaned and then the “bone” is removed by hand from the hooves. Hoof and horns are used to make fertiliser, being a slow release fertiliser with a high nitrogen content. Fire extinguisher foam is made from steamed hoof and horns which are hydrolysed to turn them into a black liquid of concentrated nitrogen. This is then turned into a foam, when sprayed onto the fire, blocks out the oxygen and extinguishes the fire. Buttons and toggles are milled from slices of horn or from the tips of horns. There is a growing craft of bending horns by the use of steam to make stick handles.
