Global ingredient solutions provider Ingredion has acquired German firm KaTech for an undisclosed sum.

Headquartered in Lübeck, Germany, KaTech offers advanced texture and stabilisation solutions to the food and beverage industry.

The company claims that its food system solutions help its customers bring products to market faster, solve technical problems and optimise product costs.

KaTech primarily focuses on plant-based, dairy and dairy alternatives, meat and fish, savoury, and bakery products.

The company is also specialised in ingredient functionality and applications in areas such as protein protection, stabilisation, texture enhancement, enrichment, mouthfeel improvement, and emulsification.

With a workforce of approximately 95 employees, KaTech operatesn four facilities, of which two are located in Germany, one in the UK and one in Poland.

Ingredion president and CEO Jim Zallie said: “KaTech has deep food formulation expertise which complements our leading texture business in Europe.

“The addition of KaTech enhances our ability to formulate customized, complete food solutions leveraging Ingredion’s expanded ingredient portfolio. It also expands the geographic footprint of our Food Systems growth platform complementing our positions in the US and Asia.”

The deal would further enhance Ingredion’s speciality ingredient portfolio by expanding its food systems platform with a  suite of  solutions.

Ingredion texture, protein and performance specialties senior vice-president Pierre Perez y Landazuri said: “We are committed to working together to continue to meet KaTech’s customers’ needs and building upon their world-class reputation in specialities for technical depth, applications know-how, and innovative texturizing solutions that create value for foods and beverages.”

In February this year, Ingredion signed an agreement with Argentinian food producer Grupo Arcor to form a joint venture (JV) to broaden food and beverage ingredient offerings to customers in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.