HEERLEN, THE NETHERLANDS – Royal DSM has entered an agreement to acquire Vestkorn Milling, Tau, Norway, for €65 million ($73 million). Vestkorn is a processor of pea- and bean-derived ingredients for plant-based protein products.

“Increasingly, food and beverage producers around the world are looking to partners who can offer an integrated portfolio of ingredients, expertise, and solutions to help them differentiate and get to market fast,” said Patrick Niels, executive vice president of DSM’s Food and Beverage division. “This is especially important in the highly dynamic meat alternatives space, where consumer and societal expectations around authentic taste, texture, and nutritional profile, as well as climate impact, are becoming more and more sophisticated.”

Vestkorn Milling’s proteins, starches and dietary fibers are complementary to DSM’s offerings to food manufacturers developing plant-based food and beverages, according to the DSM. The acquisition also builds on DSM’s goal to develop an alternative protein business and will provide synergy with the company’s CanolaPRO rapeseed protein isolate that will commercially launch in 2022.

“Through the cooperation with DSM we have taken a huge step toward becoming a global leader of pulse-based ingredients,” said Aslak Lie, chief executive officer of Vestkorn Milling. “Over the past years we have significantly expanded our business and market. With DSM, we have a long-term oriented owner that will fuel further growth and expansion.”

In September, Royal DSM entered an agreement to acquire First Choice Ingredients, Germantown, Wis., for $453 million. First Choice Ingredients is a producer and marketer of clean label dairy-based flavor solutions obtained through fermentative processes. The company has three manufacturing plants and employs approximately 100.