Firmenich and Nelixia form partnership for natural oils in Central America

07 Jun 2018 --- Firmenich and Nelixia have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate their footprint in natural ingredients across Central America. With Firmenich’s investment, they will significantly expand Nelixia’s high-quality and ethically-sourced raw materials portfolio. Founded in Guatemala nearly a decade ago, Nelixia is renowned for producing the highest quality Cardamom, Peru Balsam and Styrax essential oils, which are also 100 percent carbon neutral and traceable.

“Nelixia has established itself as a leader in certified essential oils, with a reputation for producing some of the best cardamom in the world,” says Patrick Firmenich, Chairman of the Board, Firmenich. “Building on our longstanding relationship and shared values, we look forward to giving our customers access to Central America’s unique breadth of natural ingredients in the most ethical, sustainable and traceable way.” 

Speaking to FoodIngrediensFirst, Dominique Roques, Vice President Naturals M&A, Firmenich says: “There is a decision that has been made, not just from today but many years back, and that is to get closer to the source of natural ingredients. I think this ties in with this wave of customer expectation of natural flavors in their products, even in perfumes for example, which sees consumers legitimately asking: ‘Where is my vanilla coming from and how are the people treated who produce my vanilla?’ There is global attention to the source and although this always existed, today the focus is much more significant and remarkable.” 

“The partnership for us is at the crossroads of what we have been doing for years,” he explains. “With this growing expectation from our clients, and the responsibility we feel for our clients to deliver the right messages and the complete transparency that people expect.” 

The Nelixia of today consists of a new generation of companies that source and see opportunities that the next generation of consumers expects. They are transparent, work directly with farmers and know what they are talking about. As a result, this is in line with the new global expectations.” 

According to Roques, today there is a global situation where the demand for naturals is more significant than supply. “For decades it has been the opposite. It is for three reasons: climatic accidents, buying industry being successful (organic growth) and the explosion of aromatherapy,” he notes. “It has grown to such levels that it is becoming a game changer, in the world of naturals. In less than ten years, the market demand has increased and the need for volumes is much higher.”

For Roques, this is shaking the world of naturals, which “is a world of small and natural producers spread out across the globe, mostly in subtropical counties. For large companies like us, this is challenging, we have extensive portfolios that we must safely source and the only way out of this is to partner at the source. We feel that it is much more efficient to help people in Guatemala and India for example, to do what they know, rather than do it ourselves. Firmenich is the creators of perfumes and flavors, so we are letting the people who are the producers of natural ingredients do their job and our role is to support them,” he stresses. 

“Since the production of our first essential oils back in 2010, our constant ambition has been to place sustainability at the heart of our operations. Firmenich’s passion for naturals and commitment to the sustainable livelihoods of the local communities, made them an ideal partner, enabling us to multiply our impact across Central America,” says Elisa Aragon, co-founder and CEO of Nelixia. “Taking our vision to the next level, we’re looking forward to diversifying our raw materials portfolio, while scaling up our positive impact on our farming communities.” 

“I am delighted to be strengthening our partnership with Nelixia, as we share a common passion for nature’s most authentic ingredients and the people who produce them,” notes Gilbert Ghostine, CEO, Firmenich. “Combining Nelixia’s unique range of natural ingredients with our global reach and legacy of world-class research, we look forward to creating the finest taste and smell experiences for our customers.” 

The new partnership is bringing a multitude of opportunities to the market, according to Roques. “We know that Nelixia brings potential regarding natural ingredients. Our role is then to figure out how best to distillate or extract according to the natural ingredients themselves and there are all kinds of potential technologies that we have depending on the type of ingredients. We already know that Nelixia distillates but tomorrow we will help them extract which is opening the door to a much broader range of products.”

“If every partner brings the best of themselves, then this is going to build the portfolio of the future. If you combine the variety of botanical and techniques that we have, there is indeed a wealth of opportunities,” he concludes. 

By Elizabeth Green