Barentz International acquires MP Spice Service

Netherlands-based ingredients firm Barentz International has acquired Maustepalvelu (MP Spice Service), a Finland-based developer of customised blends, with a focus on the meat, fish and snacks industries.

Headquartered close to Helsinki, MP Spice Service offers a comprehensive service, ranging from concept and raw material testing to research and development (R&D), storage and sourcing of ingredients, preparation of customised blends, and prompt delivery.

Established over 60 years ago as a raw materials supplier, MP Spice Service has a turnover of €21m and close to 70 employees.

The company operates a modern R&D and production facility, with more than one thousand different blends and several production and packaging lines.

The deal expands Barentz’s capacity in the development and production of customer specific blends in Europe, and is in line with the company’s plan to offer flexible blending capabilities to customers in the food and nutrition industries.

Barentz noted that a strong team and a production location in Finland is also of strategic importance for its geographical presence in Europe.

Barentz International CEO Hidde van der Wal said that offering more choices in blends, as well as in single ingredients, adds value to its relationships with customers who are looking for a one-stop shopping experience.

"Not only are we seeing an expansion of our single ingredients business with our customers in the meat and fish industries, we also see a strong demand from our customers for specific blends to increase taste, texture and stability of their products.

"We have been looking for ways to reinforce the research and development part of our business and have found a great innovative partner in MP Spice Service," der Wal said.

MP Spice Service’s managing director Mikko Salonen said that the support of Barentz’s extensive sales network and deep industry knowledge will enable the company to improve its customer services in some of its very important markets, such as the Nordics, Baltics and Russia.

"We are a true market leader here in Finland, but we would like to grow through exporting our products. Barentz, with sales teams present in all European countries, is ideally positioned to help us with market access opportunities in Europe," Salonen said.

Barentz plans to develop its relationship with MP Spice Service by sharing existing successful blend formulations, and will be looking to develop more innovative blends for the meat substitution, vegetarian, bakery and health and nutrition sectors.