News

Frutarom opens new Jo'burg centre

13 Apr 2016

Frutarom is to open a centre for research and development, innovation, laboratories, sales and marketing, and production in Johannesburg, South Africa which it says constitutes a significant reinforcement for its existing activity in Africa.

Frutarom is to open a centre for research and development, innovation, laboratories, sales and marketing, and production in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The company says that the new centre constitutes a significant reinforcement for Frutarom’s existing activity in Africa and will enable it to provide its customers in the countries of the region with advanced development and applications services and the use of efficient production methods at the cutting edge of existing technology in this field. The centre will provide Frutarom customers with support and comprehensive solutions in the areas of sweet flavours, savoury taste solutions where Frutarom claims it has built up a position of global market leadership in recent years, and in the combining of health and taste solutions with emphasis on natural products such as natural colours, natural antioxidants for food protection and the extending of shelf life, specialty citrus products and natural specialty fine ingredients with proven health qualities.

In 2009 Frutarom set up a local South African subsidiary, and in 2013 it acquired the South African flavours company JannDeRee and the American flavours company Hagelin with its extensive activity in African countries. In 2015, Frutarom acquired the Indian flavours and fragrances company Sonarome with activity in over 20 African countries.

“Frutarom sees Africa as being a major growth engine for its activity,” said Frutarom President and CEO Ori Yehudai. “We intend to leverage our development and production capabilities in South Africa for the local South African market and also as a regional innovation centre for the entire continent. Africa continues enjoying a growth rate of over 5% a year. The rapid urbanization process and expanding middle class are leading to a rise in food and beverage consumption, resulting in growing demand for flavours and specialty fine ingredients. This economic environment provides a suitable basis of activity for Frutarom, which views the emerging markets overall, and in Africa especially, as one of its main growth engines. Frutarom has been active in Africa for over 20 years already in many countries, having its main centres for sales in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. We believe in the continued accelerated economic development taking place on the African continent and are certain of our ability to be leading partners in the exciting journey of growth for the continent’s economy as a whole, and particularly in the food and beverages industry in which we play a role.”

“We are continuing to pursue the implementation of our rapid growth strategy which combines profitable internal growth with acquisitions. Frutarom will carry on accelerating its growth in both developed and emerging markets. We intend to continue investing in the rapidly growing regions of Asia, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, and Africa, with the share of our sales from emerging markets having grown from 27% in 2010 to 44% in 2015.”