Innovation through formulation: Azelis christens new tagline to mark shift in strategic direction

16 Jul 2019 --- “Innovation through formulation” is food ingredient and specialty chemical distributor Azelis’ new tagline and brand promise. This coincides with the company’s new strategic direction which focuses on the continuing investment in technical expertise. As well as adding to its number of lab professionals, Azelis has also grown to 60 labs from 12 labs since 2012. The company aims to use strong application and formulation support to become a benchmark for the industry in providing innovative solutions to its customers.

“Our old tagline [‘creating value, growing together’] is not invalid now, nor was it ever incorrect. It was perfectly adequate for a previous phase in our evolution, but right now the focus is shifting from what we do – because we will continue to create value and grow with our partners – to how we do it, and this is increasingly through innovation and formulation support,” Marina Kaptein, Group Communications Director, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“We have evolved from a leading distributor of specialty chemicals and food ingredients into an innovative service provider – something we are very proud of as it is a result of hard work by all our employees, in all the regions where we operate.”

Azelis takes existing ingredients and tries to find new applications for them – be it in a new industry, a new product application, a new geographic territory. Recent innovations have included a customizable, biodegradable face mask, a healthy brioche and a high-protein milk. The company has won more than 20 innovation awards since 2015, including the Ringier Technology Innovation Award and Personal Care & Cosmetics Innovation Award in China earlier this year.

The company has also been investing both financial and non-financial resources into strengthening its services – adding new application laboratories in all regions, creating novel formulations, while offering formulation support to its customers. EQT, the private equity owners of Azelis support the new direction and are providing guidance to further strengthen this role.

“Azelis has been increasingly focusing on formulation support to our customers. We will continue to do what we have done in recent years. We only felt it was the right time to formalize this strategic course and the behavior that our employees have already been displaying in all their interactions with our business partners – to provide innovative and new solutions to the stringent market requirements,” continues Kaptein.

An essential part of the company’s expansion is organic growth with its partners, according to Dr. Hans Joachim Müller, Azelis group CEO. “Part of that growth is delivered through strong application and formulation support that comes from our laboratories. This additional value we create is very important to our customers and principals alike, it’s important to our owners and it stimulates a sense of pride and loyalty in our employees,” he adds. 

The company recently extended its partnership with CP Kelco, a global producer of nature-based ingredient solutions. This saw Azelis continue to be the exclusive distributor for CP Kelco products sold into food and beverage applications in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. 

Earlier this year, Azelis made other moves to strengthen its position globally. In India, it acquired the distribution activities of MK Ingredients & Specialties and SSD Industries, which closely followed the company’s purchase of Euroconsultant, Polish distributor of flavors, shelf life extenders and other products predominantly for the meat segment. Additionally, Chemroy Canada Holdings Inc., a distributor of specialty chemicals and food ingredients, was acquired as Azelis expands its Canadian presence.

By Katherine Durrell