Previously covering only Western India, the agreement now also spreads the partnership across the country’s North, South and East.

“Our team has extensive knowledge of DSM-Firmenich’s ingredients and we are pleased to have the opportunity to share our expertise with a wider audience and support customers in dairy, bakery, nutrition and more applications,” says Aparna Khurana, managing director of Azelis India. 

“Being able to exclusively offer DSM-Firmenich’s advanced enzymes and cultures portfolio and nutrition solutions across India greatly expands our lateral value chain and nicely complements our current food and nutrition portfolio.”

According to the company, the partnership is poised to “strengthen Azelis’ lateral value chain” with more advanced solutions and enables the group to meet the market demand for “sustainable formulations that enhance taste and nutrition.”

“This strategic decision has been made to streamline and enhance our distribution model in India to increase our customer intimacy further and strengthen our market penetration,” notes Christian Petersen, regional sales manager Asia Pacific at DSM-Firmenich.

The evolving dairy space
The dairy category is dynamic, with food businesses focusing on adding taste, texture and health benefits into their offerings.

Today’s consumers do not see why an indulgent product cannot also be nutritious or even healthy, which makes them seek out options that deliver the best of both worlds, DSM-Firmenich told Food Ingredients First last month.

The strategic decision will help the companies streamline their distribution model and strengthen their market penetration in India.This can also be a reason dairy dominates the product launches for protein-fortified snacking.

Key players like Danone are also pushing the boundaries of innovation in the dairy and plant-based categories through partnerships to cater to stay ahead of emerging trends, better serve its customers and consumers and foster sustainable growth.

Interestingly, software and AI are also making their way into dairy farms. Last week, US-based software company Smaxtec unveiled its AI capabilities for managing dairy cows’ health by helping farmers detect and prevent mastitis, a common disease in dairy herds.

Azelis on the move
Azelis specializes in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry and is present in 63 countries across the globe. It created a turnover of €4.1 billion (US$4.3 billion) in 2022. As for 2023, it has been fruitful for Azelis, with partnerships and agreements all year round. 

The year started with Azelis acquiring Smoky Light, a Benelux-based smoke ingredients market distributor. The move reestablished Azelis’ position in the Benelux market and expanded its footprint in the smoke ingredient market in EMEA.

Later, Azelis acquired 100% of the shares of Gillco Ingredients, a specialty ingredient provider in the food and nutrition market in the US. The move enhanced its lateral value chain for the US food and nutrition market and broader life sciences segment.

Focusing on the Asia Pacific, the company also continued its partnership with Novozymes, which enables Azelis to distribute Novozymes’ bio-based agriculture solutions, such as microbial inoculant, biostimulant and biocontrol solutions, in Malaysia.

In March, Azelis reinforced its portfolio within the F&B and meat sectors in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Eastern Europe by continuing its collaboration with Kerry that started in 2018.

Moreover, the company’s organic growth strategy continued with an agreement with Mane to distribute its flavors and taste solutions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.