Turpaz Industries takes majority stake in Food Base

Turpaz Industries agreed on 8 June 2023 to acquire 60% of Food Base from its sole shareholder. Completion depended on Hungarian regulatory approval, and Turpaz financed the purchase with bank borrowing. A call option over the remaining 40% becomes exercisable between three and five years after closing, priced on the company’s results over that period. The seller, who runs the business, remained at its head and joined the group’s management. Established in 2004, Food Base formulates and produces sweet flavourings and natural plant extracts, in both liquid and powdered form, alongside essential oils, vinegar powders and oleoresins. Its customers manufacture convenience foods, health drinks, snacks and nutritional supplements. It holds more than 2,000 formulations, exports to 33 countries and serves several hundred clients. Revenue amounted to $5–25M in 2022. Production and laboratories occupy a single site in Budapest, on land the company owns, where it employs 55 people. Its certifications cover food and feed safety, pharmaceutical manufacturing practice, halal and kosher, each of which conditions access to particular customers and markets. Nutritional supplements explain part of the interest. The category requires ingredients documented to pharmaceutical standards rather than food standards, which few flavour houses of this size hold, and the formulations command prices above those of conventional food applications. For Turpaz, the purchase added a central European production base to a group then concentrated in Israel and western Europe, within an acquisition programme through which it has entered successive national markets.

By taking control of Food Base, Turpaz Industries continues its expansion strategy. Previously, the group had completed 3 acquisitions, including Klabin Fragrance in 2022.