Kerry expands plant protein product portfolio with Pevesa acquisition

21 Feb 2020 --- Kerry has expanded its non-allergenic and organic plant protein capability by acquiring Spanish company Pevesa Biotech. The acquisition further strengthens Kerry’s position in the hydrolyzed plant protein space for specialized nutrition, and expands the company’s capacity to serve the rapidly growing organic plant protein market.

Based in Seville, Pevesa Biotech is a well-established global producer of non-allergenic, non-GMO plant proteins for the infant, general and clinical nutrition markets. The company also offers a range of plant proteins, including organic pea and rice protein and protein hydrolysates and is a European leader in non-allergenic plant proteins for infant nutrition. 

Pevesa has developed a range of organic and standard biofertilizers for fruit, olive and specialist garden growers, and has had a strong corporate focus on developing sustainable solutions to important nutrition, health, biowaste and agricultural challenges. 

“Kerry is extremely pleased to bring the global expertise of Pevesa into our plant protein portfolio,” says John Reilly, VP Business Development Proteins, Kerry. “Kerry was attracted to Pevesa because of its expertise, innovation, high-quality manufacturing leadership, and patented technology in the non-allergenic plant protein market. This will be a good fit with Kerry’s growing plant protein product portfolio, and Pevesa’s customers will benefit from the synergy between its market-leading technology and Kerry’s protein processing expertise.”

The growing inclination of consumers toward natural and plant-based products has been fueling the explosive demand for plant-based foods over the past few years. This trend extends to increased demand for plant protein sources. 

As consumers reduce their consumption of dairy and soya proteins (for allergy, health, sustainability or animal welfare reasons), rice and pea protein have become two of the fastest-growing plant protein segments globally. 

The global plant protein ingredient market is projected to grow at 6.6 percent per annum from 2018 to 2023; the organic rice protein market was estimated at US$42 million in 2018; while the organic pea protein market was valued at US$11 million in 2018.

Pevesa is a biotechnology company specializing in highly sustainable non-GMO plant-based rice and pea proteins. The company’s products include rice protein hydrolysates (including organic), pea protein isolate, rice protein (including organic), pea protein (including organic), partially hydrolyzed pea and rice proteins, and organic biofertilizers. Pevesa also produces biofertilizers organic and standard) using high-quality plant protein hydrolysates for use in organic farming. 

Edited by Gaynor Selby