Novax completes the acquisition of French company Louis François SAS and establishes Ingå Group, a corporate group of leading ingredient developers for the food industry. Ingå Group's ambition is to become the preferred choice for sustainable and healthy ingredient solutions for food manufacturers, marking a significant commitment from Novax to further strengthen its role in the transition towards a sustainable food value chain.
Future Food is one of Novax's four focus areas, with functional ingredients as a central investment theme. Functional ingredients represent a specialized part of the food production value chain, with companies focused on development, innovation, and new technology. These ingredient companies assist food manufacturers in addressing complex challenges in product development and production, such as reducing artificial additives, adopting plant-based ingredient alternatives, and minimizing food waste.
The specialty ingredients market is a multi-billion-dollar industry but still relatively fragmented, especially in Europe. There are a significant number of family-owned and entrepreneur-driven players who, with the right conditions, have great potential to scale up their operations and innovations.
As a key step in building a European corporate group, Novax has acquired a majority stake in Louis François SAS, a French developer and manufacturer of functional ingredients targeting the premium segment of culinary customers. Together with Novax's existing investment, British company Ulrick & Short Ltd, developer of plant-based functional ingredients, Ingå Group is now created – a long-term commitment to building a group of market-leading ingredient companies. Adrian Short, co-founder of Ulrick & Short Ltd, is appointed as CEO of Ingå Group.
"We are both excited and proud to launch Ingå Group and take further steps towards establishing a significant player for the future food industry. Ingredient developers have a significant influence on both product development and manufacturing in the food industry and, therefore, play a crucial role in transitioning towards sustainable, healthy food. To meet this transition, it is essential to develop ingredients that are sustainably produced and of the highest quality in terms of taste and function. Ingå Group currently holds a strong position with two leading international ingredient companies, and we look forward to further developing the ecosystem with accelerated innovation and an active acquisition agenda," says Pär Warnström, responsible for the Future Food sector at Novax.
"At Novax, we constantly seek entrepreneurial partners with attractive business models that have the ambition and capacity to become truly significant and meaningful and be a positive agent of change for society. By creating ecosystems of independent companies that collectively drive and develop the value chain, we can make a difference far beyond our own operations. That is why I am proud to present Ingå Group, a long-term commitment whose ambition is to become a significant conglomerate of companies sustainably developing the food industry through natural and healthy ingredients," says Joakim Skarborg, CEO of Novax.
About Ingå
Ingå Group is a long-term investment and operational partner within Novax's Future Food sector. Ingå Group's business idea is to be the primary supplier of pure, simple, and naturally sustainable plant-based food ingredient solutions for chefs, food artisans, and food manufacturers in Europe, North America, and eventually globally. Ingredient solutions enable consumers to eat tasty, sustainable food.
By building and supporting an ecosystem of autonomous and market-leading companies for sustainable and long-term growth, the group invests in the future of food. Today, Ingå Group consists of British Ulrick & Short Ltd and French Louis François SAS.
About Louis François
Louis François was founded by Louis François in 1908 and is a family-owned French developer of specialty ingredients and functional ingredients for gourmet pastries, chocolate, confectionery, premium ice cream manufacturers, culinary experts, and food producers. Louis François offers a portfolio of over 300 functional products, delivering to a diversified customer portfolio worldwide consisting of food artisans, chefs, and food producers. The company currently operates two facilities in France (Croissy-Beaubourg and Jouy-sur-Morin) and employs approximately 30 people.
About Ulrick & Short
Ulrick & Short is a clean label provider of plant-based ingredient solutions. The company was founded in 2000 by Andrew Ulrick and Adrian Short and is currently located in the UK and across Europe with sales offices in the UK and the Netherlands. Novax invested in Ulrick & Short in February 2021, initiating the journey towards a common vision of building a leading family of European ingredient companies.
About Novax
Novax invests in small and medium-sized growth companies operating in our focus sectors: Health & Wellness, Technical Security, Future Food, and Digital Infrastructure for Retail. We are active, long-term owners with a focus on growth and contribute industry expertise, networks, and an ecosystem of competence and knowledge sharing as well as practical support. Novax is part of Axel Johnson, a fourth and fifth-generation family business founded in 1873 by Axel Johnson.
