Avril Expands Ingredients Portfolio Following Novastell Deal

12 Jul 2017 --- Oilseed and protein specialist Avril has acquired French experts in lecithins and phospholipids Novastell in a bid to bolster its ingredients portfolio.

Avril has announced the agreement to acquire Novastell to pursue its growth in the valorization and marketing of vegetable oils and ingredients for business to business markets.

According to Avril, the deal offers the group a chance to restructure its product ranges within a new platform: “Avril Oil & Ingredients Solutions.” 

In line with the group’s strategy, the acquisition marks an important stage in the structuring of its product ranges in the area of oils and ingredients for industry, following the creation of Avril Oil & Ingredient Solutions earlier this year. 

The new commercial, marketing and innovation platform within Avril’s Oilseeds Processing Business Line will manage products from the group’s subsidiaries – Saipol, Lesieur, Kerfoot and Expur – for customers in the agrifood, nutrition and dietetics, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries.

Avril Oil & Ingredient Solutions can already offer an extensive portfolio of vegetable oils produced by its European facilities, and thanks to a dedicated R&D team is developing specific solutions based on know-how available throughout the Avril Group.

“After the development in 2017 of two units for sunflower lecithin, a natural emulsifier which offers a promising alternative to soy lecithin, the acquisition of Novastell will accelerate the growth of our activities in France and internationally, while increasingly focusing on providing responses to the needs of our customers. We are very much looking forward to welcoming the Novastell teams as they join the Avril Group,” says Director of the Avril Oil & Ingredient Solutions platform, Olivier Tillous-Borde.

“These new ties between Novastell and Avril will allow us to pursue the development of new opportunities and solutions for industry,” says Pierre Lebourd, Chairman and Founder of Novastell.

“The Novastell teams will find opportunities for innovations in nutrition and health in the diversity of the skills and subsidiaries within the Avril Group, thus enabling them to better serve their customers.”

And Jean-Baptiste Bachelerie, General Manager of the Oilseeds Processing Business Line within Avril, adds: “Creation of the Avril Oil & Ingredient Solutions platform marks an important stage in the structuring of our activities in this area. Based on the operational efficiency of our international sites, the platform is already very active. Our natural alliance with Novastell is emblematic of these synergies.”