Margarine
Margarine is a water in oil emulsion of edible fats and oils containing at least 80 percent fat, in which fine droplets of an aqueous phase are dispersed through a continuous fat phase held solid by a network of fat crystals. Products of the same construction at lower fat content, from around 39 to 79 percent, are traded as fat spreads rather than as margarine, and the same technology in a harder, unemulsified form gives bakery and pastry margarines.
Its functional behaviour comes almost entirely from the solid fat content curve of the oil blend. The proportion of the fat that is crystalline at a given temperature determines whether the product is firm in the pack, spreadable straight from the refrigerator, plastic enough to laminate into a dough, or able to hold air in a creamed batter. Emulsifiers, principally distilled monoglycerides and lecithin, stabilise the water droplets against coalescence, control spatter on heating and influence the crystal habit of the fat.
Margarine comes in tubs, wrapped blocks and bulk cartons or drums for industrial use, and as pumpable liquid or fluid grades. It is a physically metastable material: the fat crystal network relaxes and coarsens with temperature cycling, which is why the cold chain and the tempering regime after production matter as much to final quality as the recipe does.
We source bulk Margarine from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Gansu. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Emulsifier
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Uniform pale yellow plastic emulsion, free from visible water separation |
| Odour and taste | Clean and characteristic, free from rancid or foreign notes |
| Fat content | ≥ 80.0% |
| Moisture | ≤ 16.0% |
| Solid fat content at 20 °C | Declared per grade by nuclear magnetic resonance |
| Slip melting point | 32 to 44 °C by grade |
| Free fatty acid, as oleic | ≤ 0.1% |
| Peroxide value | ≤ 1.0 meq/kg |
| pH of aqueous phase | 4.0 to 6.0 |
| Lead | ≤ 0.1 mg/kg |
| Total plate count | ≤ 1000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and mould | ≤ 50 cfu/g |
| Coliforms | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The trade splits margarine first by application. Table and tub margarines are formulated for spreadability at refrigerator temperature and carry the lowest solid fat content. Bakery cake margarines are softer and are formulated to cream well and hold air. Puff pastry and croissant margarines are the hardest grades, with a wide plastic range and a fat blend chosen so the layer stretches rather than breaks during lamination, and they normally carry a higher melting fat fraction. Frying and industrial grades are formulated for heat stability and low spatter.
Grades are then distinguished by fat content, since margarine, three quarter fat and half fat spreads are separate legal categories in many markets, by the fat blend itself, palm and palm fractions, rapeseed, sunflower, coconut or interesterified blends, and by whether any partially hydrogenated fat is present. Dairy free and fully plant based versions, organic and non genetically modified declarations, kosher and halal certification, and salted against unsalted are all separate specifications.
Applications
- Table spreading and general household use, in tub and wrapped block form
- Cake and sponge batters, where a creaming margarine holds air and gives volume
- Puff pastry, croissant and danish lamination, where a plastic high melting grade forms the fat layers
- Short pastry and biscuit doughs, controlling shortness and machinability
- Bread and enriched doughs, added as the fat phase for softness and crumb structure
- Cream fillings and buttercream, where the fat crystal network sets the standing texture
- Frying and shallow cooking, using grades formulated for low spatter and heat stability
- Industrial and food service catering, sold in bulk cartons and pumpable liquid grades
- Vegan and dairy free bakery, where the plant based fat phase replaces butter
Brands Using Margarine
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Margarine on the ingredient label.
- VitaquellExtra Vital Pflanzenmargarine 250 g ↗A tub of vegan plant margarine built on rapeseed oil with a cold pressed oil blend, palm oil and palm kernel fat.Label verified 2026-08-31
- VitaquellPflanzen-Margarine Unsere Gute Vitasieg 500 g ↗A 500 g tub of plant margarine sold as a spread and baking fat.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Margarine
Top Margarine manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States margarine has a standard of identity established by the Food and Drug Administration at 21 CFR 166.110, which requires a minimum of 80 percent fat, specifies the optional ingredients that may be used and requires vitamin A fortification to a stated level. Products below that fat content cannot be labelled margarine and are marketed as spreads. The emulsifiers used are lawful food ingredients, with mono and diglycerides generally recognised as safe under 21 CFR 184.1505 and lecithin under 21 CFR 184.1400, and the labelling of trans fatty acids follows the nutrition labelling rules.
In the European Union margarine and the related spreadable fats are defined by the common market organisation regulation for agricultural products, which reserves the name margarine for products of vegetable or animal fat origin containing between 80 and 90 percent fat, and defines the three quarter fat and half fat categories below it. Additives permitted in the product are those listed for the relevant category in the food additives regulation, and industrially produced trans fat in food for the final consumer is capped by a separate Union measure. Codex maintains a standard for fat spreads and blended spreads that covers composition, labelling and quality factors for this group of products.
Manufacturing Process
Production begins with the oil blend. Refined, bleached and deodorised vegetable oils are selected and combined, and the solid fat content curve is engineered by fractionating palm oil into stearin and olein fractions, by interesterifying a hard and a liquid oil to redistribute fatty acids across the glycerol backbones, or in some markets by hydrogenation. The chosen blend is warmed and the oil soluble components, distilled monoglycerides, lecithin, colour and oil soluble vitamins and flavour, are dissolved into it. The water phase is prepared separately with salt, any milk protein or plant protein, an acidulant to set the pH and a permitted preservative, and is pasteurised.
The two phases are metered together in the correct ratio and emulsified under agitation to give a coarse water in oil emulsion, which is then pumped under pressure through a votator line. Scraped surface heat exchanger tubes chill the emulsion rapidly from around 45 degrees Celsius to below 15 degrees, nucleating a fine fat crystal network, and pin worker units then apply mechanical work that develops the crystal structure and gives the product its plasticity. Tub grades are filled directly from the line, while block and pastry grades pass through a resting tube where crystallisation completes under quiescent conditions before filling and wrapping. The packed product is tempered at controlled temperature for a day or more so the crystal network stabilises before dispatch.
