AarhusKarlshamn to tap Brazilian market

AarhusKarlshamn (AAK) will invest in a new facility with innovation centre in Jundiai, S?o Paulo, Brazil, to expand its portfolio of food ingredients and chocolate and confectionery products. It will also help enhance the company’s ability to supply bakery and dairy solutions. The company’s vegetable oils and fats solutions are used as substitute for butter-fat and cocoa butter, trans-free and low saturated ingredients.

“There is a large potential for AAK in the Brazilian market,” said president and CEO Arne Frank. “It is the world′s seventh largest economy and a number of our global customers already have significant presence. Currently AAK has a well-established chocolate & confectionery business supplying out of our factory in Montevideo, Uruguay. However, pursuing our global growth strategy, AAK needs to be present with production capability also in Brazil. This new factory is an integral part of AAKtion, and adds presence in a growth market which is identified as strategically important.”

The investment is expected to be approximately SEK 400 million over a two-year period. The start-up of the new factory is planned for the latter part of 2015 and fully utilised it will increase AAK′s total capacity by 100,000 to 120,000 MT.