Opta Food Ingredients, Inc. (Nasdaq:OPTS) and Nutrinova Nutrition Specialties & Food Ingredients, GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Celanese AG, today jointly announced the signing of an exclusive international distribution agreement to sell Opta’s fiber, bran and EverFresh® products outside of the United States and Canada.
Under the terms of the agreement, Nutrinova, a developer and global marketer of non-caloric sweeteners and food preservatives headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, will market and sell Opta’s line of fiber and bran products worldwide, excluding the United States, Canada and Israel. Nutrinova also has international distribution rights to EverFresh, a product that is used by the seafood industry to prevent browning in shrimp. International sales currently constitute approximately 12 percent of Opta’s annual revenue. The agreement is not expected to have a material impact on Opta’s 2000 financial results.
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“This agreement is a major step toward expanding Opta’s global reach,” said Opta President and Chief Executive Officer Arthur J. McEvily, Ph.D. “Nutrinova is an excellent business partner for us and is strongly committed to establishing its presence in the worldwide fiber market. Teaming up gives us access to an extensive international sales network–both direct and through well-established distributors–and a strong base of contacts within potential customers for our Opta® and Snowite® oat fiber, stabilized bran and EverFresh products. Opportunities for increasing fiber sales internationally should also help us maximize the return on our recently acquired Canadian Harvest division,” he added.
According to Nutrinova President and Chief Executive Officer Arthur Steinmetz, Ph.D., his company is seeking to broaden its product portfolio and enhance its visibility beyond sweeteners and preservatives into the healthy nutrition and fiber business segments. “There are strong synergies between our two companies–we both have excellent, highly complementary technical capabilities and our product development efforts are driven by customer needs,” Steinmetz said. “We have an extensive international sales force and a proven track record in marketing and selling specialty ingredients. Opta’s expertise as the leading global supplier of oat fiber to the food industry will give us an added advantage in our customer markets.”
The new alliance will be overseen by a senior executive steering committee consisting of McEvily, Steinmetz, Scott A. Kumf, Opta’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and Martin Jager, Ph.D., Nutrinova’s vice president and general manager responsible for innovation.
Nutrinova Nutrition Specialties & Food Ingredients GmbH, a member of the Celanese AG group, is the inventor, manufacturer and marketer of the successful high intensity sweetener Sunett® (Nutrinova registered trademark for acesulfame K) and one of the world’s largest producers of the food preservatives known as sorbates, and markets food ingredients in major markets worldwide. The company has approximately 350 employees and generated 1999 global sales of approximately $150 million.
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By GlobalDataOpta Food Ingredients, Inc. is a leading innovator, manufacturer and marketer of proprietary food ingredients that improve the nutritional content, healthfulness, texture and taste of its customers’ food products. Opta’s food ingredients are used by more than 200 food companies, including 10 of the 15 largest U.S. consumer packaged food companies and three of the world’s largest quick service restaurant chains.
Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements based on management’s current expectations. Factors which could cause actual results to differ from such expectations are discussed in the Company’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including Reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q) and include the size and timing of significant orders, as well as deferral of orders, over which the Company has no control; the extended product testing and launch cycles of the Company’s potential customers; the variation of the Company’s sales cycles from customer to customer; increased competition posed by food ingredient manufacturers; changes in pricing policies by the Company or its competitors; possible delays in securing production equipment and retrofitting production facilities and processes; the Company’s success in expanding its sales and marketing programs and its ability to gain increased market acceptance for its existing product lines; the Company’s ability to timely develop and successfully introduce new products in its pipeline at acceptable costs; the potential for significant quarterly variations in the mix of sales among the Company’s products; the challenges of integrating the operations of acquired businesses; and general economic conditions.
