Acquisition of ‘complementary player’ Lecico to boost Avril’s speciality ingredients portfolio

14-Jan-2019 - Last updated on 14-Jan-2019 at 11:41 GMT

(Image: Getty/Mny-Jhee)

Agri-food giant Avril says the purchase of German lecithin and phospholipids producer Lecico improves its position in the specialty ingredients market.

Hamburg-based Lecico supplies non-GMO lecithin, made out of soya, sunflower and rapeseed, as well as phospholipids, as functional and nutritional ingredients to food manufacturers.

According to the purchase agreement, the Avril Group will integrate Lecico into its Oil & Ingredients Solutions (OIS) platform. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition enables the oil giant to consolidate and develop Lecico’s business, said Avril. “It brings new opportunities with sunflower sourcing and a significant size to help Lecico develop its product portfolio and customer reach,” an Avril spokesperson told FoodNavigator.

“Since the acquisition of Novastell by Avril, our team has significantly grown the range of natural ingredients and solutions we can offer to our Health & Nutrition customers: from vegetal, egg-based and marine phospholipids, through natural anti-oxidants as tocopherols, to innovative specialty oils and other bio-active ingredients - Valérie Barrois, sales and business development director for Ingredients, Avril OIS

Olivier Tillous-Borde, managing director of Avril OIS, similarly said the acquisition will improve Avril’s position in the non-GMO lecithin market: “Synergies with our existing ingredients are obvious and our joint market reach will be stronger.

“We are very much looking forward to welcoming the Lecico team as they join the Avril Group,” he said in a statement

A complementary acquisition

The acquisition comes six months after Avril purchased French lecithin supplier Novastell. The Normandy-based business supplies a range of organic, conventional and non-GMO lecithin in liquid and powder form.

Novastell and Lecico are complementary players, the spokesperson told us: “Geographically, their commercial locations offer greater access to the market for lecithins and ingredients.

“Product-wise, the convergence brought by this acquisition offers stronger product range and expertise, [for example in] functional ingredients, milk phospholipids, [and] organic lecithin.”

In other restructuring news, Avril announced a partnership with family-owned Italian olive oil manufacturer Costa d’Oro in May last year. By leveraging Avril’s operational structure, Costa d’Oro vertically integrated its own agricultural supply chain and industrial production – a move designed to boost its position in the olive oil market.