Tate & Lyle ANZ expands regional presence

The handover, which will take place on 1 April, is part of the group's plans to expand the range of ingredients currently on offer.

For example, the company will also manage the distribution of Tate & Lyle food ingredients (including modified starches, polydextrose, sweeteners and acidulants in New Zealand), previously managed by Bronson & Jacobs.

"Bringing these ingredients in-house is a natural move for Tate & Lyle ANZ," said Faye Bowyer, general manager.

"We can now offer a more complete range of Tate & Lyle's value added ingredients in Australia and New Zealand - including Splenda Sucralose, Krystar crystalline fructose and specialty food ingredients.

"Our strategy is to offer the most comprehensive range of value added ingredients to the Australasian market.

This means wider choice for our customers and new opportunities in ingredients blending."

The division, which forms part of Tate & Lyle's Global Food Ingredients Group, was established to help the ingredients firm focus on the Australian and New Zealand food and beverage industry.

It already distributes ingredients for Nutrinova (sweeteners and sorbates), Wild Flavors (flavours), Innova (savoury flavours) and SunOpta (fibres).

The UK-based company believes that the new division will maximise growth opportunities for its value added ingredient portfolio.

"Tate & Lyle is a strong global brand and I am very pleased to have the opportunity to establish the company in this region," said Bowyer.

"Having worked with Tate & Lyle for some years as a customer and partner, I have in-depth experience of the company's value added product portfolio and customer focused strategy.

"By combining Tate & Lyle's range of value added starches, sweeteners, acidulants and proteins with the Splenda Sucralose business, we are now able to offer our customers in this region a wider range of ingredients and ingredient solutions than ever before."

Greg Morency, Tate & Lyle's vice president for food ingredients in Asia-Pacific, said that establishing a direct presence in the Australian and New Zealand markets was an important step for Tate & Lyle's Global Food Ingredients Group.

"We are committed to helping our customers create innovative, high quality products," he said.

"Our expertise in research and development, and our understanding of consumer trends, means that we can help our customers differentiate their products in a competitive environment and maximise the speed of delivery to market."

Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TATE.L. In the US its ADRs trade under TATYY.

The company operates more than 65 production facilities in 29 countries, throughout Europe, the Americas and South East Asia.

Sales in the year to 31 March 2006 totalled £3.7 billion.