Solbar kicks off US expansion with Ingredients Inc deal
Chicago distributor Ingredients Inc, which will enable the company
to expand its presence in the nutrition industry in the United
States, reports Jess Halliday.
Solbar vice president of marketing and sales Gary Brenner told NutraIngredients-USA.com that the company already had US distribution channels but that, until now, nutrition has been a very small part of the business.
Working with Ingredients Inc will also allow Solbar to improve its position in the traditional industries for meat, fish and poultry, he said.
The arrangement with Ingredients Inc marks the first concrete step in Solbar's two-year plan to win a greater slice in the US market.
"The US is 50 percent of the specialty soy proteins industry," said Brenner. "We, as the third largest supplier of soy proteins, need to strengthen our position there."
Solbar's main competitors, Solae and ADM, are both based in the US.
Earlier this year Solbar was understood to be in discussions over opening a production plant in Ohio, just outside Cleveland.
But today Brenner declined to give an update on the progress of these discussions, saying that the US market will be served both by its new plant in China and its Israeli facility.
The firm has been growing by around 30 per cent a year over the last decade.
At IFT in New Orleans next week Solbar will be introducing the latest generation in its Solpro 900 isolated soy protein family - Solpro 910. Brenner said that these are traditional isolates made from identity preserved non-GMO proteins and are mainly for emulsified meat and food products. The improvement of the 910 version over the original 900 lies in the viscosity of the protein.
