04.01.02
Altus Functional Foods Venture TerminatedThe Novartis AG, Quaker joint venture, Altus Foods, Chicago, IL, has officially been dissolved, according to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune. Last year, the fledgling company test marketed a variety of functional food products including Quaker Take Heart cereals, snack bars and juices as well as Women’s Individual Nutrition (W.I.N.) cereals, snack bars and smoothies. Soon after Altus began the test market for these products, PepsiCo and Quaker had completed their multibillion dollar merger. According to The Tan Sheet, “Novartis says joint venture termination was discussed and agreed upon when PepsiCo acquired Quaker Oats last year...Dissolution also reflects Novartis’ move away from functional foods.” The future of Altus was questioned when Novartis said earlier this year that it wanted to sell off its health and functional food brands to concentrate on its pharmaceuticals and healthcare businesses. As for PepsiCo, owner of Quaker, the interest in functional foods lies in beverages with a focus on Gatorade and Tropicana rather than Quaker’s arsenal of snack products including oatmeal, cereals and healthy snacks.
Due to these events, Forbes Medi-Tech is currently in active discussions with several major food manufacturers regarding the commercialization of its proprietary cholesterol lowering food ingredients. The company was approached by Novartis Consumer Health to help them find a buyer for the Take Heart™ line of food products enriched with Forbes’ Reducol™.
Due to these events, Forbes Medi-Tech is currently in active discussions with several major food manufacturers regarding the commercialization of its proprietary cholesterol lowering food ingredients. The company was approached by Novartis Consumer Health to help them find a buyer for the Take Heart™ line of food products enriched with Forbes’ Reducol™.