Solae chief dismisses struggling company rumours

07/03/05 Solae Chief, Tony Arnold has dismissed rumours that the soy company is set for further downsizing and an eventual takeover. “We don’t anticipate any acquisition or divestiture. We get calls from those who are interested, but no-one’s interested in selling it,” Arnold told FoodIngredientsFirst.

Since the joint venture company between Bunge and DuPont came about a number of high profile employees have left the company. Working through arrangements with some distributors has also caused ripples. Chinese suppliers also seem to be more active in international markets and appear to have improved the quality of their offer, according to industry insiders.

Arnold said that Bunge and DuPont are not involved in any discussions and are simply delivering to their customers. “We have already gone through most of the company’s integration. Now we are going forward,” he added. The restructuring that has occurred over the last two years is now “going quite well,” in Arnold’s opinion, following the initial challenges of bringing things together. Arnold thus pointed out that there is “nothing going on,” in terms of a major downsizing.

Solae increased the price of its soy protein isolates and nuggets in the US will increase by 5% at the beginning of March, and the price of its soy protein concentrate, flour and fiber products by 7%. “It is a normal part of business that prices go up, this increasingly happens with all proteins”, Arnold said. When asked about the onset of cheaper soy products from China he noted, “we are not selling on cost, we are selling on value. Our customers see value in what we produce”.

Solae itself has looked east recently and now has a couple of facilities in China, where the category has grown fairly substantially in recent years. “Our Asian business is doing very well. There is more interest in soy in China and India. They are starting to use more soy and better quality soy”, he said.

Arnold was optimistic about the company’s situation. “We are lucky to be in a growth market. People are looking for ways to incorporate soy into their diets, therefore we are constantly looking for new applications,” he said.

In February ADM purchased Solae's global isoflavone business along with its US patents and foreign equivalents. As part of the deal Solae will exit the soy isoflavone business.

The isoflavone acquisition follows a settlement reached in an isoflavone concentrate patent infringement that Solae filed in 2003 against Archer Daniels Midland Company and Amerifit Nutrition, Inc. According to the terms of the settlement, ADM agreed to purchase The Solae Company’s global isoflavone concentrate business including The Solae Company’s extensive isoflavone concentrate patent portfolio.