Barentz and Deltagen collaborate on LATAM markets

13 Apr 2018 --- Distributor of ingredients, Barentz International, has announced the establishment of a joint venture with Deltagen Group, a specialized food ingredients distributor headquartered on Curaçao, with local presence in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, and Peru.

In November last year, the two companies announced a strategic cooperation. With the established Joint Venture, an even stronger commercial bond has been established. “We had been looking for a qualified partner to expand our business into Latin America for some years,” said Hidde van der Wal, CEO of Barentz International. “Deltagen Group, with its well-established customer network and strong management, is a great match for Barentz and we are convinced that the joint venture will help us realize our vision for this high potential market.” 

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Frank Smit, Regional Director LATAM & Caribbean for Barentz, said: “Over the past five to ten years, Latin America has seen a democratization of products that were previously considered ‘premium,’ that are now becoming products of mass consumption. At the same time, there is a growing segmentation on the food and beverage market, and a lot of different products are becoming available in each food category. Another change is that the consumers in Latin America are getting more educated and more aware of the ingredients in food.”

“We do expect to see further growths in Latin America, most of the economies are growing, which means a higher GDP and purchasing power for the consumer. Simultaneously the population is growing so there are more mouths to feed, so to speak.” 
 
In general, most multinationals have a significant presence in mature markets like Europe and North America. In these markets, it is difficult to show one digit growth, according to Smit. “On the contrary, LATAM is still very focused on basic, agricultural products and offers more opportunities for high-value products and high growth possibilities for the food companies entering this market,” he explains. 

Benefiting from Deltagen’s established market channels Barentz will be able to bring a broad portfolio of high-quality ingredients from its suppliers worldwide into the food & beverage market of Latin America and The Caribbean, as well as from its plants Vitablend in the US and Europe producing premixes, ingredients blends and antioxidants. “This joint venture represents our common belief in offering high-quality products and services to our customers,” says Mr. Jaap Luursema, CEO of Deltagen Group. 

“Our combined product offering and technical product knowledge will help further leverage our ‘value-added ingredient proposition’ to our customers and will further strengthen our position as an all-round food ingredient partner in our region. In addition to the food and beverage sector, we have been serving the past 30 years, this joint venture will also enable us to increase our presence in the feed sector in the markets that we serve,” concludes Luursema.

By Elizabeth Green