Helios portfolio company Solevo signs new distribution partnership
Tate & Lyle, a global provider of food and beverage ingredients, and Solevo, a distributor of chemicals and inputs for specific industrial and agricultural segments in Africa, have announced a new distribution partnership. Solevo has become the exclusive distributor of Tate & Lyle’s ingredients in West African countries including Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon.
In November 2016, private firm Helios Investment Partners completed the acquisition of 100% of the African fertilisers and inputs platform of Louis Dreyfus Company, a leading merchant and processor of agricultural inputs and chemical products. The fertiliser and inputs platform, now renamed Solevo, distributes a broad range of products across four lines: fertilisers, crop protection, chemicals and seeds. These products are sold to farmers and industrial customers through a distribution network in Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali and Senegal.
This agreement comes from the companies’ shared ambition to offer innovative solutions in the African continent and provide local consumers with access to high-quality food and beverage ingredients, including low-calorie sweeteners, health and wellness ingredients such as soluble fibre, texturants, stabilisers, and acidulants.
“We are proud to have Tate & Lyle as a partner,” said Matthieu Van Bree, head of industrial chemicals, Solevo. “With this partnership, we are expanding our position in the market of speciality food ingredients and solutions we offer to our customers in the food and beverage industry.”
Dominique Floch, regional sales and technical director for Turkey, the Middle East and Africa at Tate & Lyle said, “It’s very exciting to have Solevo as our distribution partner for West Africa. The long history and experience of Solevo in Africa will be very useful to increase our market presence. The African food industry is growing fast and producers are looking for ingredients and solutions that help them meet growing consumer demand for great tasting, shelf-stable food and beverages that support healthier diets. With a partner like Solevo, we are ready to support these trends.”
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