Founded in 2010, KaTech has two locations in Germany, one in the UK, and one in Poland with approximately 95 employees. The company develops food system solutions designed to help its customers bring products to market faster, solve technical problems and optimize product costs. In the dairy space, it covers solutions for desserts, milk drinks, cream, yogurt, cheese and dairy alternatives.
KaTech has a strong focus on plant-based, dairy and dairy alternatives, meat and fish, savory, and bakery products providing technical expertise and formulation capabilities for texturization and stabilization and clean and simple formulations.
The company has expertise both in ingredient functionality and applications including stabilization, texture enhancement, protein protection and enrichment, mouthfeel improvement, and emulsification.
Ingredion said the acquisition complements its existing specialty ingredient portfolio by expanding its food systems platform with a suite of solutions to assist food and beverage manufacturers with product formulation, ingredient functionality and technical assistance.
“KaTech has deep food formulation expertise which complements our leading texture business in Europe,” said Jim Zallie, Ingredion's president and chief executive officer.
“The addition of KaTech enhances our ability to formulate customized, complete food solutions leveraging Ingredion’s expanded ingredient portfolio. It also expands the geographic footprint of our Food Systems growth platform complementing our positions in the US and Asia.”
“We are committed to working together to continue to meet KaTech’s customers’ needs and building upon their world-class reputation in specialties for technical depth, applications know-how, and innovative texturizing solutions that create value for foods and beverages,” said Pierre Perez y Landazuri, Ingredion’s senior vice president, texture, protein and performance specialties.
“Our customers will benefit from a comprehensive suite of nature-based ingredients with access to tailored solutions and unrivalled speed to market,” added Mike O’Riordan, Ingredion’s president of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
“Ingredion’s complementary geographic reach will enable the KaTech business to thrive and continue growing.”
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.