Processes for producing citrate esters

Described are processes for producing citrate esters in, an economic fashion. Esters are prepared by esterification of a citric acid-containing fermentation broth having been treated to remove cations and optionally other impurities, but containing sugar(s). Esters are also prepared by reacting an impure aqueous citric acid source with an alcohol to provide a heterogeneous aqueous/organic reacted mixture, wherein the organic phase contains the ester and the aqueous phase retains water-soluble impurities. A liquid phase separation is then used to separate the organic and aqueous phases, conveniently separating the impurities from the product and avoiding the energy-intensive distillation of water from the reaction medium.