Function and flavour merge in new strategic alliance
Fromatech Ingredients produces flavours, flavour systems, cheese based powders and seasonings. It has now joined with another Dutch firm, Food Ingredients & Specialities (Fi & S BV), which produces functional blends, to form the Innogredients Group BV.
Together they have also just begun a partnership with the logistics firm Driessen Group BV, as well as the Canadian owned Wiebeco Group of companies, which has interests in dairy and egg proteins and is a major shareholder in the confectionary manufacturer Brookside Foods.
Janine Bayartz, Fromatech product and marketing manager, told FoodNavigator.com that the merger and partnership deal will help the company better serve existing customers but also expand into other markets, in particular the US.
Bayartz said: “Our major customer group is within Europe, although Fromatech already delivers to 60 countries.
“With out partnership with Dreissen, we will have huge logistics network access to help us especially when going outside Europe.
“It’s our future goal to have a production site in the US market as well but this is a long term goal.
“Right now we have to first expand the Innogredients Group within Europe.”
Bayartz added that the biggest challenge was to “develop one product with the functional taste solution”.
She added that currently: “We are saying we have the functional ingredient, do you want some flavours to it.”
But further down the line, rather than just customising products, the aim is to offer specific ingredients combining both these strengths.
Pooling resources
Fi & S’s specialises in water and fat management, coating systems, injection and tumbling mixes and its main customer group is in the meat sector.
Meanwhile Fromatech has a lot of flavours that are heat resistant, which is an important attribute for the meat industry.
Fi & S will also benefit from Fromatech’s strength in bakery and confectionery so that it can expand its range in these areas as well, according to Bayartz.
Similarly, Fi & S will make use of the expertise and the equipment of Fromatech’s R&D centre, which was completed in 2007 with four different laboratories.
In a joint statement, the two companies said that ongoing co-operation with several of machinery suppliers also gives Fi & S access to all application machines needed to imitate clients’ total industrial processes and demonstrate the end product to its clients directly.
It expects the strategic merger, which was signed at the beginning of the year, to result in a “one-stop shopping concept” and more production capacity.
In addition, Driessen will provide the complete world-wide logistics of Innogredients, with partners in 90 countries, 30 traction units and more than 600.000 m3 of storage and trans-shipment facilities.
And Wiebeco will help “open the door” to the feed ingredients market.
