With the new partnership, Valio said it is pursuing growth for its dairy-based ingredients for special nutrition for the elderly or athletes. Valio and DKSH said they see a lot of collaboration potential in the market for various gut-friendly, value-added, and wellness products.
Valio said the majority of the population in South-East Asia is not able to enjoy dairy products because of the lactose in milk. Valio has always been interested in people’s health and wellbeing and has looked to develop science- and research-based products that promote wellness.
“Industry-tailored, lactose-free Valio Eila products are an example of our pioneering and research-based product development. Thanks to our unique technology, they are gut-friendly and can be enjoyed also by people who typically can’t consume milk products. We help local food industry companies to develop products for their own customers, products like protein-rich yogurts and low-sugar chocolate, that meet local nutritional needs and are gut friendly,” said Timo Pajari, senior vice president heading Valio’s international sales of special milk powders.
“Valio’s special milk powders can be used to add protein to snacks for athletes, for example, or to lower the sugar content in chocolate without compromising taste and quality. With our diverse range of products and our leading expertise, we can help food industry companies to introduce completely new products that meet people’s changing needs,” Pajari said.
The Finnish dairy and food cooperative, owned by 4,300 dairy farmers, has operated in the South-East Asian market for many years. Pajari said the partnership with DKSH was a good fit because of its experience in the F&B segment and its foothold in Asia.
“With our products, they also have the ability to help their customers to develop new kinds of products for new target groups and thus to grow their market share in new segments. As a result of this collaboration, Valio’s special milk powders are now available in Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Singapore,” Pajari added.
“We are very pleased to enter a distribution agreement with Valio in several key markets across South-East Asia and Taiwan. Valio is a brand leader in Finland and major player in the international dairy ingredients market with over 115 years of experience and Nobel prize-winning innovation. The company’s high-quality milk powders, from fresh Finnish milk that is pure and clean combined with modern technology, are an excellent fit for our product portfolio in several applications such as confectionery and bakery, dairy and ready meals. The products will be advantageous to our large customer base in Asia due to their protein content, taste and other benefits. We look forward to increasing our market coverage with Valio in the region,” said Cesar Saez, vice president global food & beverage ingredients, DKSH.
