Barentz Strengthens Food & Nutrition Position in Asia by Opening Philippines Office
6 Sep 2013 --- Barentz International has opened an office in the Philippines. This new office is a logical step in the rapid expansion of Barentz, who have been working with global and local leading food & nutrition companies in the region through its Barentz Singapore regional head office and its other local Asia Pacific teams.
“Being in the Philippines is a logical step for us,” says Kees Schepers, Vice-President of Barentz Asia Pacific. “It fits right into our strategy of wanting to be close to our customers to develop premium and innovative ingredients solutions together. In the last two years we saw a substantial growth with our Asian customers, making it essential for us to be here, to work on innovative products for the Asian market together, which works very well through our own Barentz Food & Nutrition concept center located at our Vitablend premises in Singapore.”
Operating from Manila, Barentz will focus on establishing itself as a preferred supplier to the leading food & nutrition companies in the Philippines, before developing the ingredients and additives business for the Pharmaceutical and Personal Care industries. With over 100 million people, and one of the highest GDP growths in the region in 2012, the Philippines is a key market for Barentz and its major suppliers. Through freight forwarding and 3PL agreements, Barentz Philippines Inc. will offer a full range of solutions to the food & nutrition market. The opening of the Manila office is part of an Asia Pacific expansion plan, which also includes further moves to Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia.
Hidde van der Wal, CEO of Barentz International speaks with passion about the developments in Asia: “Although our heritage and a substantial amount of our turnover originates in Europe, we are growing fast into the Asian territories. Throughout our 60 years of doing business in the food industry in Europe, we have been playing a pivotal role in connecting our customers with the ingredients of our suppliers. Some of these suppliers have been with us for decades and since many of our customers are expanding to the Asian Pacific to meet the demands of consumers in that region, we move with them to be able to keep delivering value them from our sources to their solutions.”
In 2012, Barentz has solidified its presence in the Asia Pacific region through opening a regional Barentz head office and a state-of-the-art Vitablend production plant for nutritional premixes and antioxidant blends in Singapore. Barentz has grown substantially in the last couple of years, realising a group turnover of 850 million Euros in 2012.
