Frutarom acquires 60% of WFF and will build a new plant in Vietnam

Published: 10-Apr-2017

This acquisition from the Vietnamese flavours company is the company's third in 2017, with a focus on emerging markets

Frutarom Industries, a multinational company operating in the global flavours and fine ingredients markets, has signed an agreement for the purchase of 60% of the Vietnamese company Western Flavors Fragrances Production (WFF) for around $1.3m.

Frutarom also intends to build a modern new flavours plant in Ho Chi Minh City, which will enable it to significantly expand its activity in the Vietnamese market and in the growing countries of the region.

WFF

WFF was founded in 2003, has 44 employees and engages in the development, production and marketing of flavours, mostly in the field of sweet flavours and with emphasis on the dairy, beverages, confectionery and baked goods segments. The company has around 300 customers from among the leaders in their fields in Vietnam.

It has a plant and laboratory in southern Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City; a sales and marketing office in Hanoi; and is one of a handful of flavours producers in the Vietnamese market with a research, development and applications laboratory, production site and local sales and marketing platform.

The Director of WFF, Phuong Nguyen, the main shareholder in WFF and with 20 years of experience in the flavours and food industry, will continue managing the company’s activity.

The market

Vietnam, with a population of 90 million, is one of the Southeast Asia’s growing economies with a projected growth rate for next year of more than 6% based mainly on continued rapid growth in the country’s foreign trade.

The Vietnamese economy is characterised by significant government investment in infrastructure and national projects, a high rate of participation in the work force and rising personal consumption which is responsible for around 70% of the GNP.

Frutarom's interest

WFF’s activity is synergetic with Frutarom’s activity in Vietnam and Southeast Asia in the field of sweet flavours which has grown in recent years at a faster rate than the market. The acquisition of WFF is part of the fulfilment of Frutarom’s strategy to significantly expand its activity in Asia.

Frutarom acquired in 2015 the Indian flavours company Sonarome and the Chinese taste solutions company Inventive. Then in 2016, it inaugurated a new modern flavours plant, including an advanced R and D laboratory, in Shanghai, China.

Ori Yehudai, President and CEO of Frutarom Group, said: “We are working on finding and making further strategic acquisitions of companies and activities in our fields of operations, with special emphasis on markets with high rates of growth in Asia, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe and in Africa.”

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