INTERVIEW: Nexira to Expand into Proteins and Cognitive Health, Eyes International Acquisitions

20 May 2016 --- Nexira is eyeing protein and cognitive health as two new development platforms for the company, as it looks to meet ambitious growth targets, particularly for its Health division. Nexira reported a turnover of €112.5 for the financial year closed in September 2015, with the company’s target to pass €150 million in sales by 2020. Part of the pathway to growth will be an expansion in health & nutrition, with plans in place to grow this part of the business above 35% by 2020. The company is also eyeing international acquisitions, as it cements its position as a growing but still family-owned, independent business.

Mathieu Dondain (pictured) took on the role of Managing Director of Nexira at the end of 2015. He is the fourth generation of the Dondain family to take the helm of the company in the near future [renamed after the merging of CNI, Bio Serae Laboratoires and NutriProcess under a single banner in late 2011].
 
“Proteins is one of the areas where we are planning to go at the moment and we have some solid expertise and industrial capacities in extraction and hydrolyzed proteins,” Dondain revealed in an interview with FoodIngredientsFirst. “We have a number of sources that we are currently working on to become potential products to propose to the market. We have several options that we are currently considering and several potential partners with whom we would like to work.” 
 
Dondain noted that rice and soy are obvious vegetable protein source options, but are not always that easy to work with due to sourcing challenges around GMO concerns. “So we have several other protein options from vegetable sources to consider apart from these. We are currently screening a wide list of options,” he added.
 
Dondain confirmed that this would be an important project that the company will consider launching in the coming months. “We will do a screening that will open up a major task force internally to see if we can identify sources,” he explained. Nexira will not be offering proteins as a commodity product but more as a specialty for niche markets; whether dietary supplements, sports nutrition or other more niche markets, or for clinical purposes and baby food. 
 
The protein part will not become a new division, but rather likely fall under the company’s Health banner. “It will either fall under the Health division if it is for dietary supplements. Otherwise there is a big gray area between Food and Health, which is the whole dietary supplement space; which can be in both sectors,” he explained. 
 
In his role as Managing Director, Dondain will be looking to diversify the company in the next 4 years, to look beyond the company’s core business of acacia gum and fiber, as well as solidifying their leading position there too. Nexira will be aiming to offer innovative products from different products and sources, within both the Health and Food divisions. “There are other fibers and proteins, but it could be more technical additives based on natural vegetable based sources, whether for emulsification, texture or various categories. As long as it is clean or clear label, we want to diversify our product portfolio,” he explained.
 
At Vitafoods 2016 in Geneva last week, Nexira launched an ingredient based on the cognitive potential of the synergy between two sage extracts: Cognivia. Sage, a well-known plant species from Lamiaceae family, could present many beneficial health effects, notably on memory assessment. “It is interesting to see the synergy between two sage species and also this essential oil encapsulation, where it is about manufacturing capacity and formulation expertise. We are only at the beginning of the in vivo studies that were made, but we are hoping to see first interest in the product to potentially do more studies around it,” Dondain explained. A video about the product can be found here!
 
Acquisitions are also on the agenda, with no activity since the 2013 purchases of Tournay Biotechnology and previously Bio Serae Laboratories, as Nexira looked to solidify its teams and also avoid exposure to becoming an acquisition target itself. The next likely buy will come outside of France, however and could fall in either the Food or Health arena. “I think that doing it in the Health part would seem the most obvious. But we are not exclusive to one or the other. All opportunities will be considered and be highly looked at whether for Food or Health. The Food division is still full of opportunities that would be a shame not to take into consideration,” he concluded.
 
By Robin Wyers

A full interview with Mathieu Dondain will appear in the June 2016 issue of The World of Food Ingredients.