Givaudan announces distribution partnership with IMCD in Western Europe

07 Aug 2017 --- Givaudan has announced the exclusive new distribution partnership with IMCD, a leading distributor of specialty chemicals and food ingredients. The partnership is set to provide more food and beverage manufacturers across Western Europe access to Givaudan’s flavor technology, expertise and inspiration through IMCD’s flavor team.

Working together, the companies have made a selection of locally-relevant, consumer-preferred flavors, including natural and clean label solutions. The IMCD flavors team will advise customers on the best solutions from this collection to meet their specific needs and optimize products for their market. 

Bas Zecha, Givaudan’s Marketing Director Western Europe told FoodIngredientsFirst: “Givaudan has always had a strong local presence, working collaboratively alongside our customers in their marketplaces. This new partnership will not impact our existing relationships but will allow us to reach a whole new customer base of small to medium sized enterprises where we can add value and help customers create inspiring products, through IMCD’s dedicated flavor team.”

“The needs of consumers and the food & beverage industry keep evolving continuously. As the market leader in flavors, Givaudan is at the forefront of providing customers with taste solutions to drive consumer preference and success in the market,” explains Zecha. 

“The offer encompasses a collection of Givaudan’s most successful and commercially competitive flavors in the region. This collection includes natural and clean label solutions, plus our world-leading taste technologies, which will help customers optimize production and solve taste and health challenges across a range of products from beverages and savory foods to sweet goods and dairy,” he notes. 

“The distribution agreement covers the geographies of Benelux, United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, opening up new growth opportunities for both companies in these countries,” adds Zecha.

Commenting on the collaboration Kevin Robinson, Givaudan Commercial Head of WE said: “This new relationship supports two key pillars of our 2020 strategy; partnering for shared success and growing with our customers”. 

“IMCD is an excellent partner for Givaudan. They are a good strategic fit as like us, they put the customer at the heart of what they do. This relationship will allow us to reach a whole new customer base of small to medium-sized enterprises where we can add value and help customers create inspiring products which delight consumers.”

Fergus Johnson, IMCD’s Business Group Director Food and Nutrition, EMEA said, “Our exclusive distribution partnership with Givaudan brings together complementary expertise from both companies to give our customers an enhanced range of services and solutions. Working together, teams from IMCD and Givaudan have carefully selected the most successful and commercially competitive solutions to meet our customers quality, cost and application needs”. 

“We believe this new relationship will enable more customers to bring great products with amazing taste to life. We really want to offer the best of Givaudan to every single customer of ours.”

The team will be able to draw on Givaudan’s industry-leading flavor solutions and a wealth of application experience to help customers solve taste, health and efficiency challenges in a wide range of products from beverages and savory foods to sweet goods and dairy.

Just last week, IMCD announced the 100 percent acquisition of Canadian and US ingredients distributor L.V. Lomas. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory review and is expected to close at the end of August 2017. 

According to IMCD, L.V. Lomas is an “excellent fit” with the IMCD business model and immediately provides the company with a significant presence in Canada and a further enhanced position in the US.

You can read the full story here. 

By Elizabeth Green