Florida Food Products has acquired Comax Flavors

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Florida Food Products (FFP; Eustis, FL) is assuming majority ownership of Comax Flavors (Melville, NY) from the Calabretta family, which will maintain an ownership stake in the business going forward.

“Comax is the result of 40+ years of dedication to our craft and the hard work of hundreds of our colleagues. We are incredibly proud of the business that we have built and are confident that the Comax legacy will live on as part of the FFP family,” said Peter Calabretta Jr., CEO of Comax, in a press release. “We are excited to partner with the FFP, Ardian, and MidOcean teams, who share our belief that natural ingredients provide consumers with healthier options while offering our customers high-quality alternatives to traditional, synthetic ingredients. This partnership gives Comax access to new technologies, ingredients, and distribution that will accelerate the existing Comax business and provide more solutions and capabilities for our valued customers.”

As part of FFP, Comax’s core strength will be enhanced through a more robust infrastructure, with FFP bringing a core competency in tea, botanical, coffee, and vegetable extraction that will complement Comax’s flavor offerings. The manufacturing capabilities of the combined entity will include extraction, fermentation, blending (wet and dry), drying, and formulation.

“Under the stewardship of the Calabretta family, Comax has grown to become one of the largest providers of natural flavors in the U.S. since its founding in 1977. Comax formulates natural ingredients that replace synthetic flavors and maintains a portfolio of nearly 1,000 natural flavor SKUs. As part of the FFP family, Comax will continue to operate its Melville, NY manufacturing facility, and develop industry leading formulations in its Marlton, NJ R&D facility. The Calabretta family will maintain an equity position in the combined business,” states Jim Holdrieth, FFP’s CEO, in a press release.