Chilean flavour firm enters European market
The Latin American company will work with Belgium-based Kreglinger Specialties to market and distribute its products in Europe. Kreglinger is no stranger to the flavours market – until very recently it represented Firmenich in the UK and the Benelux.
The European flavours and fragrances market is already a crowded place, with the likes of Givaudan, Kerry, Symrise, Cargill, Synergy and Frutarom vying for business, but Cramer has its reasons for wanting to target European food and beverage manufacturers.
“It is a very attractive market from our point of view: highly profitable, mature, sophisticated and open to new flavour alternatives,” Pascale Berndt, marketing manager with Cramer Productos Aromáticos, told Food Navigator.
Berndt is also confident that Cramer will be able to hold its own against its European competitors.
“After 72 years of presence, we are an old player in the Latin American market, and we are used to competing with all these companies on a daily basis throughout our continent, so it's nothing new for us.”
She added that Cramer will have the edge over the bigger flavour firms when it comes to being flexible and competitive.
“We are extremely flexible compared to global multinational companies, and therefore able to provide the utmost in personalised service with the most creative, tailor-made products delivered with minimum leadtime.
“Our state-of-the-art production plants and laboratories are designed for highly efficient production centered on our customer's requirements. Having our logistics platform in Chile makes us extremely cost efficient, because of reduced tariffs and the numerous free trade agreements that Chile has signed with Europe, Asia and the USA.”
Flexibility
Petra Fisch, sales manager food and cosmetics Europe with Kreglinger Europe, is equally confident about Cramer’s prospects in Europe, not least because of its willingness to be flexible on smaller orders.
“We deal with big food producers but also mid-sized companies who have issues with the big flavour houses because they are less flexible with minimum order quantities – often small and medium sized companies have problems finding high quality flavours at the prices they want,” she said.
Cramer Productos Aromáticos is specifically targeting manufacturers of dairy, beverages, confectionery, baked goods and savoury products. Its flavours and fragrances include natural flavours, a line of fruit flavours native to Latin America and its ‘NutraFlavour’ line.
“These are highly concentrated, premium products that apart from imparting flavour, offer nutraceutical properties from the source they are obtained from, such as antioxidants from our Chilean Cabernet Wine NutraFlavour,” explains Ms Berndt.
With its headquarters in Santiago, Cramer Productos Aromáticos is a family-owned business employing 320 people.
