Convenience key for Vika’s cheese customers, as Dutch firm enters partnership

23-Jan-2012 - Last updated on 23-Jan-2012 at 15:04 GMT

Picture Copyright: Vika

‘Convenience’ is the watchword within cheese ingredients for Dutch firm Vika Food Ingredients, with the company focusing its R&D efforts on products with this benefit, having just signed a new co-operative partnership with A-ware Food Group.

The terms of the deal will see A-ware – also based in The Netherlands, and describing itself as a food- storage, transport, slicing and packaging specialist – develop, market and sell cheese specialties for international retail clients.

Vika, which turns over around €100m, will supply cheese and other dairy ingredients to industrial customers in the food manufacturing, foodservice and retail sectors.

These include grated cheese, cheese powder, processed cheese and cheese replacers; non-dairy products range from stocks in past and powder form to seasonings, fruit and vegetable extracts and dry and wet marinades.

Vika MD, Mel Tunderman, told DairyReporter.com that the company was already a success on the world stage in the supply of cheese and other dairy ingredients.

He said: “We are already present on the international stage, but this co-operation allows us the possibility to enter the retail market in Belgium and Scandinavia, where A-ware is already active, and where we can use our knowledge to develop products for them, to also enter that market.”

Asked which products within Vika’s dairy portfolio were selling well, and which products had real potential, he added: “What we see is that convenience is getting more and more popular, and we’re making ingredients for convenience products.

“So when you look at our portfolio, we are specialising in selling ingredients to the ready meal market, and as an ingredients in snacks. So convenience is very popular at the moment, and we’re developing ingredients especially for that field,” said Tunderman.

A privately owned company with its main production facility in Ede, Holland, Vika ripens, cuts and packages cheese specialties, and also stores and distributes cheese and other food products.

The company also has sites in Holland, Belgium, Italy, England and New Zealand

Jan Anker, CEO, A-ware Food Group, said: “Last year we incorporated Schipper Cheese, a company specialised in melting and smoking cheese. The product and concepts developed together with Vika Food Ingredients are an addition to the present assortment.”