LycoRed to target Eastern Europe

17-May-2012 - Last updated on 18-May-2012 at 08:52 GMT

LycoRed is conducting continuous research into the health benefits of tomato extract

LycoRed plans to target Eastern Europe for sales growth, according to newly appointed global vice president of marketing and sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa Frederic Nanquette.

Nanquette said the ingredients firm, which supplies ingredients such as lutein, lycopein and beta carotene, aimed to boost its presence in all global markets, but particularly in rapidly growing economies.

“Our plans are to grow LycoRed in core markets,” he told FoodNavigator. “Our big customers are organised globally and we would like to expand our coordination and sales with them.

“There are some markets that are underdeveloped and some are non-existent. Eastern Europe is a very good example [of a priority region]. But first we have to tackle the regulatory situation in these countries.”

Tomato extracts

In product terms, Nanquette said the company was heavily focused on developing the potential of tomato extracts, such as its Lyc-O-Mato natural tomato lycopene complex. “We are conducting continuous clinical studies into tomato extracts and we have seen many health benefits.”

These included more evidence of their efficacy in maintaining and improving heart health. However, results of this research were unlikely to be ready to be published before the end of the year, he said.

Nanquette reports to Ilan Ron, global vice president of marketing and sales, having joined LycoRed a month ago from Cognis/BASF, where he was a director for global key accounts.

New horizons

“Nanquette’s skill set, bolstered by his more than 25 years of experience, will help us lead LycoRed to new horizons—not just in the dietary supplements industry but, most importantly, in the food and beverage industries,” said Morris Zelkha, President and chief executive of LycoRed, which has facilities in the US, Europe, China and Israel.

“I’m very excited to be a part of the LycoRed group,” said Nanquette. “I intend to lead LycoRed to the next level via high-impact growth in both the food and beverage industry in Europe, as well as dietary supplement manufacturers. I look forward to applying my energies to all our existing products, such as natural colourants and flavours, microencapsulated vitamins, minerals and other special ingredients, as well as Lyc-O-Mato."

LycoRed’s customers include dietary supplement, functional food and beverage and nutricosmetic companies worldwide.