American company RiceX, maker of rice bran-based functional food ingredients, has signed a distribution agreement with Belgium-based trading and transportation company Kreglinger Europe to begin supplying the European market with its products.
"We are very excited about our relationship with Kreglinger as this is the platform from which we will build our entree into the European market," said Daniel McPeak, senior vice president and general manager for RiceX.
Rice-X products are derived from grains that have not been chemically or genetically modified - the company will be marketing this aspect to European consumers, who tend to value food source more highly than US counterparts.
Under the agreement, Kreglinger has exclusive distribution rights in the human nutrition and food markets for RiceX Stabilized Rice Bran products in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, and non-exclusive rights throughout the rest of Europe.
"We have been very successful with speciality food ingredients and rice-based products in Europe," said Wim Arnouts, managing director of Kreglinger Europe, headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium. "RiceX's Stabilized Rice Bran ingredients represent an exciting line extension that we believe will meet a growing demand among our customers."
Privately owned Kreglinger Europe also distributes products for Danisco, Firmenich, Remy, New Foods and CNI.