FDBusiness.com

WILD Flavors GmbH has signed an agreement with Cargill to acquire their global juice
cold blends and compounds business to strengthen its position as a leading
natural ingredients company for the food and beverage industry. The acquisition
will provide WILD with over USD 200 million in additional annual sales and three
ocean-access tank farms in the strategic growth areas of Asia, Europe and North
America. The transaction is subject to antitrust approvals.
Cargill’s juice cold blends and compounds business is a worldwide leading
provider of tailor-made juice blends and compounds for high-fruit content
beverages as well as juice concentrates. It operates a global network of
production and state-of-the-art tank and storage facilities. They are located in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Port Elizabeth in the U.S and in Chiba and
Kashima in Japan. These locations will be important assets to support WILD
Flavors’ ambitious global growth strategy.
“This acquisition is a key step to continually grow a differentiated and integrated
supply chain for juices to the benefit of our customers. Cargill’s business will
provide improved raw material access while strengthening our existing juice
capabilities,” said Michael Ponder, CEO of WILD Flavors GmbH. “By broadening
our product offering and by providing a truly global supply chain, our customers
will profit from WILD Flavor’s unique full-solution approach as the single source
of supply for every ingredient needed to produce a high-quality, finished
beverage product.”
Paul Naar, Head of Cargill’s food ingredients businesses in Europe commented:
“Cargill is selling 35 years of experience in the global juice based beverage
industry, where it built a strong position in local sourcing, supply chain
management, application know-how and reliable, food safe, production.” Naar
continued: “combining with WILD will lead to a bigger scale and add even more
capabilities which will create new opportunities for customers.”