Stern-Wywiol sets up Brazilian affiliate
The family-owned German company has said South America is becoming increasingly important for its international operations, and Brazil has a highly developed food industry with dynamic growth rates.
“There is a great demand, in this country, for solutions that permit the economical production of high-quality foods and beverages”, said Lennart Kutschinski, Mühlenchemie’s managing director.
The approach is to offer not just raw materials, but also individual system solutions and know-how.
The first phased of the new Brazilian business, based in Sao Paolo. is aimed at the production of flour and baked goods, but the company says other industries “will be approached at a later date”.
The group also has activities in vitamins and minerals, enzymes for bakery, confectionery and beverages, stabilisers, functional chocolates, flavourings, and food lipids.
Kutschinski said the medium-term potential for the Brazilian market is US$10m.
Leonardo Aguero, who has 15 years experience in South America and is heading up Stern Ingredients do Brasil as managing director, called Brazil “one of the world’s biggest markets and ‘the country of the future’, whose economic and political importance will continue to increase in coming decades”.
Global set-up
The new Brazilian affiliate is the second for Stern-Wywiol in the South American continent: it also has a business in Mexico.
Altogether, however, there are now ten foreign affiliates catering to more than 100 countries around the world. Others are in Russia, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, India, China.
“The enterprise has achieved two-digit growth rates for many years,” it said in a statement. “In spite of the global economic crisis, the annual turnover rose to €220m in 2009. For 2010, too, the group is expecting an increase of ten percent over the previous year.”
