The food and nutrition industry is just as diverse as people’s tastes and we at Brenntag Food & Nutrition divide it into different market segments.
Meat, poultry and fish processing
Bakery
and bread
Dairy products
and ice cream
Beverages
Chocolate and
confectionery
Convenience
foods
Fruit and vegetable processing
Functional foods, dietary supplements, diet products
Brenntag Food & Nutrition is the leading distributor and service provider for food ingredients. Every day, the more than 900 experts at work in our global Food & Nutrition organization help to deliver the best possible result in terms of taste, texture, nutritional composition and shelf life for our customers’ products by applying their expertise and market knowledge.
The working relationship we have with our customers and suppliers in the food and nutrition industry involves constant dialogue. We are in close contact with our partners on a day-to-day basis and at the leading trade fairs around the globe. Our regional teams offer our products and extensive advice around application and development options and assist with questions about food design and food technology. Besides selecting alternative ingredients and developing innovative flavour profiles, the aim is also to improve entire production processes at the customer’s end.
The dynamics of the food and nutrition industry are particularly diverse. While we see global trends such as consumer demand for reduced-sugar, plant-based or vegan foods, there are also some quite specific developments that vary depending on the region or country. Our Food & Nutrition organization combines both elements: we have a local presence in many countries and our customers also benefit from our global network. We are thus ideally placed to serve this industry’s diverse requirements.

MEAT-FREE BURGER
This burger is suitable for consumers who want to eat less meat and instead opt for plant-based proteins.
sugar-reduced
low-calorie
high-fibre
clean-label
gluten and dairy free
vegan
fat-reduced
high-protein
Leading in applications and development
The Brenntag Food & Nutrition experts offer a variety of services to address the different trends in the market segments and, not least of all, to develop the right products for our customers. The food and nutrition industry is also very innovative and what counts is speed. People ask for clean label products, reduced-sugar foods or gluten-free alternatives. Our experts prepare individual formulations for all these needs, in each case focusing on the relevant target group. Some people are vegetarian or vegan, others have to worry about allergies, while still others are active in sports or are looking for food to go. When it comes to food and nutrition, requirements and wishes are wide-ranging and constantly changing. The mission of Brenntag Food & Nutrition is not only to meet these requirements, but also to anticipate trends and stay one step ahead of the market.
Diverse trends
One current trend in the food and nutrition industry is vegetarianism. Greater awareness of environmental, personal health and animal welfare issues is driving demand for vegetarian products. But even within this trend, there are various sub-trends, such as flexitarian, plant protein-enriched, low-carbohydrate, carbohydrate-free, dairy-free and organic foods. This is yet another example of the multitude of requirements and the diversity to which Brenntag has to adapt as a preferred service partner in this industry. In this case too, Brenntag Food & Nutrition makes a noticeable difference for its business partners – true to its slogan “Sense the difference”.
Food & Nutrition organization since the end of 2018.
He talks about the repositioning of this business unit
and the successes already chalked up by the team.
About one year ago, Brenntag launched Brenntag Food & Nutrition as a separate entity. What was the rationale behind this step?
TOM Brenntag was still widely perceived as primarily a commodity chemical distributor. It was the natural step to take to address this perception. We are the world’s largest distributor of ingredients and chemicals to the global food industry, so the creation of Brenntag Food & Nutrition brings more recognition of the value we offer our customers and suppliers and of the significant size of the business.
How does your resumé look after one year of having Brenntag Food & Nutrition in the market?
TOM I’m very satisfied with how everything has developed. Taking this step is unparalleled in our industry! And it is a challenge because it requires local execution with a global presence. We have local people that now specialize only in the food and nutrition business and they are engrained in the local cultures and businesses. We are continuously harmonizing best practices across geographies. The organization we have put in place will improve our agility and market responsiveness.
What does Brenntag Food & Nutrition offer its customers and suppliers?
TOM For our customers, Brenntag Food & Nutrition is the perfect combination of individual support and our distribution network. Our suppliers, on the other hand, want more specialization, and this is also what we can offer them – we support them in their projects and present their products to customers. This is true added value for our partners! Our biggest asset, however, are our people, who share a common passion for the food and nutrition industry. We aspire to be a living network, sharing best practices, knowledge and insights.
How do you think your customers benefit from this collective attitude of Brenntag Food & Nutrition?
TOM We will always strive to be the very best at everything we do, whether that is creating innovative formulations at our application and development centres, devising effective sales and commercial processes, or creating the most efficient supply chains possible. And we will make sure that we are easy to do business with.
TOM CORCORAN
VICE PRESIDENT FOOD & NUTRITION
