Vitiva has nominated Brazil firm W.RoBless Internacional to act as an agent for distributing its rosemary extracts product line in South America as part of its global expansion.
W. RoBless will introduce Vitiva's rosemary extracts to the meat market as well as to functional food producers.
"South America is an important market for us," said Ohad Cohen, Vitiva's CEO. "Our goal is to increase sales within this market up to 15 per cent of our natural antioxidants sales within three years.
"The great potential of the meat market in South America drove us to choose a well-known agent with a complementary product line that will promote high sales in the coming years."
There is certainly growing interest for natural and functional meat ingredients. The health trend of replacing synthetic antioxidants derived from the petroleum industry with natural ingredients has swept western countries, and suspicion over chemical-derived synthetic preservatives has pushed food makers to source natural preservatives such as rosemary extract instead.
Market analyst Global Information pitches the global food preservative market at €422.7 billion, reaching €522 billion by 2008. Vitiva is therefore looking for new untapped markets in which to expand.
The company intends to introduce its Inolens line in the South America market. These products are designed to eliminate the strong odour of rosemary extracts, making them much more suitable for a wider range of new food applications.
"We can offer the South American market the opportunity to add high value natural antioxidants through our technology," said Roberto Blessa, W.RoBless' CEO.
Vitiva claims to be the largest natural rosemary antioxidant producer in Europe, though this is disputed by Naturex, a leading European firm.
W.RoBless Internacional is a distributor of ingredients and works exclusively for the food ingredients market in South America. It represents several leading food ingredients companies.