Kerry’s acquisition expands its forward thinking health & wellness portfolio

14-Jul-2021 - Last updated on 14-Jul-2021 at 09:37 GMT

Kerry's recent acqusition substantially expands its health & wellbeing offerings. Pic: GettyImages/molchanovdmitry

Kerry Applied Health & Nutrition has finalised the acquisition of Spanish biotech firm Biosearch Life, which creates innovative science-backed functional ingredients.

Grenada-based Biosearch Life is known for groundbreaking solutions in three primary areas, including probiotics (primarily those from human breast milk), science-backed botanical extracts and ultra-purified omega-3 oils, all of which will be integrated into Kerry’s ProActive Health platform.

The ingredient provider’s forward thinking portfolio reflects the growing number of consumers who are becoming more proactive in managing their wellbeing and addresses a diverse range of health needs, from digestive health to joint health to healthy ageing.

Recent proprietary research by Kerry revealed digestive health support was the third most important health benefit consumers around the world desired from heathy lifestyle products – up from fourth position in 2019 – one that probiotics are well suited to deliver on.

Strategic priorities

“Our acquisition of Biosearch Life is aligned with our strategic priorities to expand our branded, science-backed ingredient portfolio, as well as developing our dietary supplement capabilities and market offering,” said Neil Cracknell, president of Kerry Applied Health & Nutrition.

“Biosearch Life extends our probiotics offering with the addition of the science-backed Hereditum strains and further broadens our portfolio with the Exxentia range of functional botanical extracts and Eupoly-3 natural Omega-3 oils

“These market-leading technologies allow us to address new health need states, enhance our credibility and leadership in science-backed branded actives and supports our ambition to be a leader in sustainable nutrition solutions.”

Other moves

Last month, Kerry announced it had reached an agreement to acquire Niacet for €853m.

Niacet is a global market leader in clean label technologies for preservation, along with its proprietary drying and granulation process technologies, primarily for the bakery, meat and pharma sectors.

“The acquisition of Niacet’s complementary product portfolio enhances our leadership position in the fast growing food protection and preservation market and significantly advances our sustainable nutrition ambition,” said Edmond Scanlon, CEO of Kerry.

“Niacet is a business with market leading positions, differentiated technologies and a strong and highly experienced management team. We are excited at the potential the combination of our two businesses offers to outperform in this important and attractive market.”