Nexira pegs “diversification and external growth” as impetus for present and future growth

10 Apr 2023 --- Nexira recently presented its financial results for the 2021/22 financial year. The plant-based ingredients manufacturer reported a record turnover of €224.3 million (US$244.7 million), which the company states is due to its diversification and development strategy.

During the financial year, the company acquired Unipektin Ingredients, modernized its production facilities in France and inaugurated a production line in India and noted growth in the acacia fiber market, boosted by the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) classification of acacia gum as a “dietary fiber.”

It also launched two ranges of natural plant-based ingredients – a range of natural texturizers for dairy and plant-based alternatives and a range of organic natural superfoods. 

Vice president of Nexira, Mathieu Dondain.Nexira has focused on diversification for the past 15 years, embarking on a strategy for external growth in 2008 when it acquired Bio Serae. In 2012, the company made a second acquisition with Tournay Biotechnologies. 

NutritionInsight sits down with the company’s VP Mathieu Dondain, managing director Olivier Houalla and marketing manager Julia Impérato to discuss how this growth was accomplished as well as the company’s plan to reach a turnover of more than €400 million (US$436.4 million) by 2030.

How has the company been able to diversify and develop its product offerings in the food, nutrition and health industries?
Dondain: Nexira has built its reputation as the world leader in acacia. In 2008, Nexira began its strategy of diversification and external growth with the acquisition of laboratory Bio Serae and thus expanded its product offering with natural nutraceutical ingredients used in products for weight management, antioxidants and cardiovascular protection.

In 2012, the group made a second acquisition with Tournay Biotechnologies, a European expert in the extraction of plant-based active ingredients targeted toward the nutrition and food supplement markets. Then, in 2021, the group established a presence in Switzerland when it acquired Unipektin Ingredients, experts in locust bean gum (carob), tara and other hydrocolloid processing. 

With this latest acquisition, Nexira consolidated its position on the market of natural plant-based ingredients. This dynamic market is experiencing robust growth in the US and worldwide, driven by strong consumer demand for plant-based alternatives to dairy products. The group has also pursued an active strategy to acquire patents and intellectual property.

How has Nexira’s natural plant-based ingredients and patented active agents affected the market, especially the company’s two new ranges?
Impérato: In 2022, after teamwork between technical experts and developers, Nexira has launched Naltive, a natural range of texturizers specifically designed to match the market needs of formulators and consumers.

Olivier Houalla, Nexira’s managing director.Using only purely natural and physical processes, the Naltive locust bean gum range is best-in-class as it provides specific technical benefits and multi-sensory experience in various applications. The locust bean gum line is a completely new range of six references. Combining customers’ technical feedback with market research on consumers’ expectations was the starting point. 

The new line has been designed to fit manufacturers’ industrial needs and fulfill consumer expectations for sensory experiences, clean-label, and organic plant-based foods and beverages. We have the solution to add roundness, creaminess and mouthfeel for alternative dairy beverages, ice creams and dairy- or plant-based spreadable cheeses. 

Nexira has shared in webinars its expertise in dairy applications to spread the word on this amazing ingredient and to customize its technical support for demanding customers. At Supply Side West 2022, Nexira launched Powder from Mother Nature – an innovative range of naturally supercharged, easy-to-formulate ingredients. 

They add even more value by enabling the creation of clean-labeled products that have gone from a trend to a “must-have” among health-conscious consumers. This range of dynamic ingredients inspires the imagination when it comes to creating attractive foods and beverages.

Indeed, today’s busy consumers are seeking accessible, tasty nutrition made with simple, traceable ingredients. Perhaps more importantly, they crave healthy options that will satiate hunger and make them feel good about their choices. Nexira’s Powder range of naturally nutrient-dense ingredients satisfies all of these conditions.

In the dairy sector, consumers are seeking better eating experience with products that offer the best combination of taste, texture and nutrition. In addition, plant-based alternatives are still rising, with consumers having a high level of expectations in terms of taste, texture and sensory experience.

However, formulating appealing dairy and plant-based products with good taste, desirable and indulgent texture and a stable shelf life gets more challenging due to the highly functional sugar, fat and protein properties. 

Julia Impérato, Nexira’s marketing manager.Naltive offers three types of hydrocolloids with locust bean gum being its flagship ingredient. Our Tara gum and guar specialties are produced with the highest quality standards in Nexira’s factory in Switzerland.

How has the recent classification of acacia gum as a dietary fiber affected Nexira’s business in the US?
Impérato: In December 2021, in the wake of multiple studies supervised by Nexira demonstrating the beneficial physiological effects of acacia fiber on human health, the FDA authorized the classification of acacia as a “dietary fiber.” This represents a major opportunity to boost the development of acacia fiber in the nutrition sector in the US.

With a minimum of 90% fiber content guaranteed, Inavea Pure Acacia is the ideal clean-label and organic ingredient for fiber fortification. Our Sales of Inavea Pure Acacia nearly doubled between 2021 and 2022. 

At the end of 2022, Nexira launched a clinical study on the modulation of transit. The publication is in progress.

How has the new production line in India helped Nexira meet the demands of the Indian and Southeast Asian markets?
Houalla: Nexira opened its office in Mumbai in 2012 to serve the requirements of both global and local customers in one of the fastest growing markets in the world. With India as the world’s largest consumer of gum acacia, Indian food and grocery industry ranks as the sixth largest in the world. 

Foreign investors, multinationals and local companies are seeing this potential and investing in the Indian food processing sector.

In partnership with the family-owned Indian company Synthite, Nexira inaugurated a production line in 2019 at the Marudur site in India. The production already reached close to 1,000 metric tons and will increase to meet the demands of the Indian and Southeast Asian markets. Our objective is to reach 3,000 to 5,000 metric tons in the next few years.

By William Bradford Nichols