Responding to increased consumer demand for natural carotenoids, DSM acquired Vitatene from parent company P&P Group (Italy) for an undisclosed sum.
Leendert Staal, DSM Nutritional Products’ president and CEO said: “This acquisition fits perfectly with our strategy…of driving focused growth.
Consumer demand
“Consumer demand for natural products continues to grow. Vitatene is an excellent fit with DSM’s current product portfolio and technological capabilities and will allow us to drive the growth in natural carotenoids.”
Carlo Pizzocaro, CEO of P&R Group, added: “It is great that we have found such a strong new home for Vitatene’s business. We believe this is excellent news for our customers and Vitatene’s staff.”
Synthesized by plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria, carotenoids are used in dietary supplements, beverages and a wide variety of other food applications.
Carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, are an important dietary source of vitamin A. They also have potential protective health effects against degenerative eye diseases and other deficiency-related conditions.
Natural colour
In addition to health benefits, beta-carotene is used as a natural color. Carotenoids are
the sources of the yellow, orange, and red colors in many plants. They include the orange-red colours of oranges, tomatoes and carrots and the yellow colors of many flowers.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory and other approvals with confirmation expected by the end of June 2011.
Meanwhile, last month, BASF raised the price of its food and feed nature-identical carotenoid formulations by about 12%. It cited higher “energy and raw material prices, higher logistics costs and negative exchange rate effects,” as the reasons for the increase.