Hidde van der Wal, chief executive of Barentz International, said the move was a “logical step” in a “promising market”.
“This acquisition adds to the reach of Barentz in Indonesia, which will be an advantage for our customers, who can now buy the combined ingredients portfolio from one company instead of from two different distributors,” he said.
Same customer base
With its head office in Jakarta, Astabumi services food, beverage, confectionary, nutrition, health and well-being customers across Indonesia. For Barentz, the Astabumi acquisition is strategically important, with Indonesia being the largest economy in southeast Asia, and where it has been active under its own brand since 2012.
Barentz operates specialty ingredients and nutritional and functional blends, with fibres, phosphates, novel proteins and natural sweeteners and salt replacers in its portfolio.
Last month, the Dutch company made a deal with a “strong” equity partner to release more funds to accelerate growth in its key markets including India, China and Asia-Pacific. It is money from the equity deal that has financed the Astabumi acquisition.
“Barentz and Astabumi were delivering ingredients to more or less the same customer base in Indonesia. Now, with our combined expert knowledge and very comprehensive ingredients portfolio, we can serve our customers even better,” van der Wal added.
With a population of 245 million people, a growing economy and a rapidly expanding middle class, the market for processed foods and more sophisticated food & nutrition products is growing, calling for ingredients that follow trends in Europe and the USA.
Pan-continental synergies
Adi Arianto, president of Astabumi, said: “Since we started our company in 1988 we developed a great business with European principals, amongst others with the European starch leader Roquette.
“The beauty of this deal is that Barentz is a preferred distributor of Roquette in Europe and Astabumi is Roquette’s partner in Indonesia. This creates the best possible synergy for the future growth of Astabumi under Barentz’ management. ”
Astabumi and Barentz will integrate their business over the next couple of months while operating under both trading names under PT Barentz Indonesia.