Flavor technology company Comax has been acquired by Florida Food Products (FFP), an ingredient supplier specializing in vegetable extracts, fermentation, botanicals, and more. The agreement entails FFP taking a majority ownership of Comax, while the Calabretta family, who previously owned Comax, will maintain an ownership stake in the business going forward.
 
“Comax is the result of forty-plus years of dedication to our craft and the hard work of hundreds of our colleagues,” Peter Calabretta Jr., Comax’s CEO, said. “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. 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.”
 
“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,” Jim Holdrieth, FFP’s CEO, said. “Comax formulates natural ingredients 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.”
 
Comax’s core competencies will complement FFP’s infrastructure of tea, botanical, coffee, and vegetable extraction which is complementary to Comax’s flavor technologies, Comax reports. The combined entities will be capable of extraction, fermentation, wet and dry blending, drying, and ingredient formulation.