Barentz and Deltagen pen deal to expand LatAM and Caribbean distribution

Netherlands-based Barentz International has announced a strategic partnership with Deltagen Group to expand both companies’ presence across Latin America and The Caribbean region.

Deltagen is a specialized food ingredients distribution company with local presence in Curacao, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The company traces its origins to 1981 when Irish Group established Biocon Biochemicals in Latin America. Biocon was sold to Quest International, a division of Unilever, in 1989, and a successful management buy-out in 1991 led to the formation of Deltagen Bioproducts.

Commenting on the new deal with Barentz, Jaap Luursema, CEO of Deltagen Group, said: “Barentz has a diverse product portfolio and a history within ingredients distribution of over six decades, that add high value to our business in the region.

“The strategic partnership represents our common belief in offering high quality products and service to our customers. We are positive about leveraging our existing customer relationships to benefit from this partnership to its full potential.”

Hidde van der Wal, CEO of Barentz International, added: “Barentz is steadily growing its services into new high potential markets world-wide and our partnership with Deltagen Group is a very important step for us to enter into the Latin American region.

“Deltagen’s well-established network is of great value to Barentz, and we bring them new products of high interest in this market, both from our long-established supplier network and from our own production plants in the USA and Europe.”

The Barentz group was established in 1953 and currently serves 15,000 customers in over 60 countries worldwide. The company is still privately owned and has its head office close to Amsterdam in The Netherlands. The turnover for the Barentz group reached US$1.2 billion in 2016 (€1 bn).