Royal DSM has entered into an agreement to acquire First Choice Ingredients, an ingredients and flavourings company at an enterprise value of $453 million. The latter is a supplier based in Germantown, Wisconsin with about 100 employees.

First Choice Ingredients has maintained its leading position in the market as a provider of savoury flavourings used for taste and functional solutions. Their product portfolio includes clean label, fermented dairy and dairy-based variants. The company is known for fermenting and blending natural dairy products with cultures and enzymes to not only boost flavour, but provide health benefits too.

DSM provides nutritional and specialty ingredients for the food and beverage industry. They are experts in nutritional science, fermentation and biotechnology, boasting of efficient processes that limit raw material loss and wastage. Their acquisition of First Choice Ingredients is expected to yield a symbiotic relationship, with both parties providing access to each others’ cutting-edge technology, research and global consumer relationships.

Geraldine Matchett and Dimitri de Vreeze, co-CEOs of Royal DSM, commented, “We look forward to welcoming the First Choice Ingredients people to DSM. Our companies are a great fit, with a shared passion for science-based solutions for delicious, nutritious, and sustainable food and beverage products. This acquisition is an attractive next step for DSM as we continue to build our health, nutrition, and biosciences capabilities.” Patrick Niels, President of DSM Food Specialties, added: “We are very pleased with the addition of First Choice Ingredients and its skilled workforce to our business. It will enable us to extend our integrated solutions offering in food and beverage, and provide our customers with innovative taste solutions for the new and improved end-products today’s discerning consumers continually demand.”

Jim Pekar, President of First Choice Ingredients, said: “This is the right time in First Choice Ingredients’ journey to become part of a company such as DSM. The people of First Choice Ingredients will continue to deliver our legendary products and customer service with can-do attitude and relentless focus on product integrity and innovation. They are some of the most hard-working and loyal teammates ever assembled under one roof.” Roger Mullins, Executive VP of First Choice Ingredients, continued: “We are excited to join DSM. This will enable us to accelerate our growth by adding our taste solutions to DSM’s broad portfolio of global products and integrated offerings to meet the needs of our customers and create new opportunities. This combination will allow access to DSM’S powerful toolbox of fermentation technology.”