Minerva Flavours and Fragances Private Ltd (India)

Sponsor: Soluciones Extractivas Alimentarias S.L. (SOLUTEX)
Business: Essential oil and extract processing
Industry: Aromas and fragrances, nutrition and pharmacy
Product: Joint venture loan
Total investment: 1.60 million euros
Resources: COFIDES / FONPYME

Since its inception in March 2004, SOLUTEX has maintained its commitment to health, safety and sustainability and its strategy of offering solutions tailored to its customers' needs.

As a company specialising in extraction, concentration and purification using its proprietary FLUTOX technology, it processes natural products renowned for their quality, purity and reliability for the aroma and fragrance, nutrition and pharmacy industries. SOLUTEX divides its activity into two business units: essential oils and extracts, primarily from citric plants, and biolipids with unique functional and nutraceutical ingredients, such as EPA and DHA (omega-3 fatty acid) concentrates.

SOLUTEX has built a production facility in India to diversify its product portfolio and continue internationalising its markets. The company has founded a joint venture with its local partner, Minerva Flavours & Fragrances Private Ltd, in which the Spanish firm holds 74% of the share capital.

The Indian plant will produce and market essential oils and extracts and afford SOLUTEX access to the wide variety of prime materials in that country, enabling it to expand its product catalogue. SOLUTEX will likewise have access to one of the world's fastest growing markets. A total investment of 1.60 million euros will be needed to attain these project objectives.

The project will have a positive impact on the local economy thanks, among others, to the creation of around 20 jobs, along with the effects of technology transfer. SOLUTEX's business is basically scientific in nature and the company obtains its products with patented green extraction technology and supercritical CO2 chromatography.

This being an internationalisation project sponsored by a Spanish SME with a positive impact on the local economy in an emerging country, COFIDES granted a joint venture loan for 500,000 euros to Minerva Flavours & Fragrances Private Ltd. The loan draws from COFIDES (25%) and FONPYME (75%) resources.

Lastly, India is a priority country for Spanish trade, for which the Secretary of State for Foreign Trade has designed a Comprehensive Market Development Plan, one of whose objectives is to further Spanish investment in the sub-continent. COFIDES, in turn, has a facility for financing investment in India. By financing projects such as the endeavour undertaken by SOLUTEX in India, COFIDES contributes to internationalising Spanish SMEs in high added value industries and countries at the top of the list of Spain's commercial priorities.