Naturex Acquires Quillaia and Yucca Business From Berghausen Corporation.

10 Jun 2014 --- Naturex has acquired the Quillaia and Yucca business activities from Berghausen, a US-based company, reinforcing its offerings for the food, beverage and feed markets. This move is a logical continuation for the group after its acquisition earlier this year of Chile Botanics, a Chilean company specialized in Quillaia extracts.

This acquisition propels Naturex to a leading position for natural ingredients derived from Quillaia and Yucca and enhances the group’s portfolio in a consistent manner with its sustainable development approach. The deal includes the transfer of a comprehensive line of Quillaia and Yucca extracts, formulated in convenient forms for the industry (liquid, powder).

Stéphane Ducroux, COO Americas — Asia / Pacific told FoodIngredientsFirst: “Quillaia and Yucca are in line with Naturex strategy to offer differentiating raw materials and to promote the development of a portfolio that combines quality, innovation and sustainability. Moreover, it is in line with favorable regulations and consumer preferences who want more natural ingredients in their beverages.”

A combination of consumer preferences and new regulations has resulted in a significant opportunity for developing ingredients that help food and drink manufacturers to reduce the amount of artificial ingredients while maintaining the taste, texture, and performance of the product. Yucca Schidigera and Quillaja Saponaria are natural foaming agents widely used in carbonated beverages, syrups, frozen carbonated beverages, beer, juices, and many other products requiring enhanced foaming characteristics.

“Our aim is to pursue and accelerate the technical development of this portfolio, as it perfectly responds to consumer demand for healthy, safe and convenient products and fully meets our customers’ needs with innovative and ready-to-use ingredients.” said Naturex’s CEO, Thierry Lambert. These ingredients will be manufactured in Naturex factories, allowing for their consistent supply in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia through the group’s worldwide sales network.

Naturex’s global presence ensures proximity with its customers and strong local market knowledge. In addition, Naturex establishes close working partnerships with its customers, inviting them to conduct trials into the company’s own application laboratories. Naturex’s network relies on a central application lab connected with 7 regional centers around the globe. This network plays a key role in working with customers as a long-term partner, innovating alongside them and ensuring a value-added service.

Fritz Berghausen, President and CEO of Berghausen Corporation stated “We have been in the Quillaia business for over 70 years and, given Naturex’s global presence and strong reputation, we are confident our customers will be in good hands. They will not only continue to benefit from quality Quillaia and Yucca extracts, but will also gain access to the extensive portfolio provided by Naturex”.

Thierry Lambert says, “With our strong expertise in applications, expanded capabilities and portfolio, we offer full-service support to our customers. By sharing our know-how through close collaborations, we are the ideal partner for creating products to meet the demands of consumers across diverse cultures worldwide with an optimized time-to-market.”

With this acquisition, Naturex has strengthened its positioning as a multi-specialist by adding to its range two native species (Chile for Quillaja Saponaria and Mexico for Yucca Schidigera) with a channel for sourcing consistent with Group's sustainable development approach, and in line with the acquisition of Chile Botanics, a company specialised in the production and marketing of Quillaja extracts, completed in December 2013, and for which Berghausen was the US distributor.

"This modest sized operation will enrich Naturex's range of differentiating raw materials and will promote the development of an offering that combines quality, innovation and sustainability", commented Lambert.