US-based private equity firm CORE Industrial Partners has announced its acquisition of J&K Ingredients Corp, a manufacturer of baked goods ingredients with an emphasis on natural, organic and clean label products. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

“J&K is a pioneer in the development of on-trend, clean label ingredients,” says John May, managing partner of CORE. “The food industry continues to convert to clean label ingredients in response to consumer demand.”

“We believe J&K is well-positioned to benefit from this powerful tailwind given its scalable operations, broad portfolio of products and in-house ability to innovate and develop new formulations through its R&D lab.”

Founded in 1899, J&K Ingredients developed the bakery industry’s first natural mold inhibitor more than four decades ago and remains at the forefront of natural mold inhibitor innovation, custom formulation and manufacturing. 

Natural mold inhibitors enhance taste, texture, aroma, consistency and shelf life while providing a clean label alternative to artificial chemical preservatives. 

Suite of clean label mold inhibitors
The company’s signature product lines include Bred-Mate, Rice-Mate and more recently, SOR-Mate, the first fruit-based natural replacement for sorbic acid and potassium sorbate.

Beyond its broadly recognized natural mold inhibitor product lines, the company’s total bakery ingredients offering spans more than 400 items across 13 categories, including bread and roll bases, dough conditioners, milk replacers, flavors, emulsions and stabilizers, among other categories. 

Founded in 1899, J&K Ingredients developed the bakery industry’s first natural mold inhibitor more than four decades ago.Operating three facilities in New Jersey, US, J&K Ingredients holds FDA, Halal, Kosher, FSSC 22000 and organic certifications.

“Beyond anticipated industry growth from brand and retailer conversion to natural, organic and clean label ingredients, we’ve identified numerous opportunities to accelerate organic growth in the business, including rapid commercialization of recently developed new products,” says Matthew Puglisi, Partner of CORE.  

“We’ll work to augment these compelling organic growth initiatives with strategic acquisitions to expand the company’s customer base, product offering and end market reach.”

Industry’s transition to naturality
Maturing consumer label literacy has sparked the race to innovate across global markets, while ditching traditional additives. 

The consumer lifestyle trend toward cleaner living is broadening and raising expectations around what constitutes a clean label, as detailed by Innova Market Insights’ newly unveiled Top Trend for 2021, “Transparency Triumphs.”

Each region of the world has its own clean label methods and standards, which vary from country to country, as highlighted by natural ingredients producer Layn.

In this space, Kerry recently debuted an extract technology that enables innovators to formulate with the flavor essences of citrus fruits, labeled as “natural extracts.” The technology is designed to provide an extended, “more full-bodied” finish to flavored NPD.

Blue California joined forces with biotech innovator Conagen earlier this month to commercialize Rosavel, a next-generation natural preservation solution with 98 percent high-purity rosmarinic acid made by bioconversion without the color or flavor associated with rosemary.

In other moves, Flavor house Firmenich is ushering in “a new era for the development of clean label solutions” through the launch of its new biotechnology pilot plant and laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland.