LA’s Blue Pacific Flavours acquired by Germany’s Capol, as it delivers 50th anniversary expansion

Sustainably-focused Los Angeles-based Blue Pacific Flavours has been acquired by Capol ingredients, in a drive to expand its global industry footprint, reports Neill Barston.

The deal for the organic and clean label specialist US-headquartered firm, which takes effect from this month, was for an undisclosed sum, and has formed part of a wider strategy for Capol, part of the Freudenberg Group, as the business marks its 50th anniversary operating in the sector.

As Capol noted, the strategic move combines leading expertise in beverages, confectionery, and coatings to create a global food ingredient leader with complementary strengths — accelerating innovation in flavours, coatings, and product development across the food and beverage industry.

Significantly, Capol noted that Donald Wilkes will continue as CEO of Blue Pacific Flavors, and the company’s management team and employees remain unchanged, ensuring seamless continuity for customers while adding the scale and resources of a global group. 

By uniting deep category expertise across beverage, confectionery, and coatings, the transaction positions the Capol group to serve global food manufacturers with an unmatched spectrum of flavour innovation and surface treatments while expanding its high-quality service and supply throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

Donald Wilkes, CEO of Blue Pacific Flavours, felt the move would represent a strong development to steer its future.

He said:  “This is an exciting new chapter for Blue Pacific. Our Farm to Flavour story will now be amplified through world-class infrastructure and global reach. Together with Capol, we can deliver greater innovation, faster speed to market, and enhanced value for our customers — while staying true to our roots in clean-label, natural flavour development. Importantly, this partnership also expands our manufacturing footprint into Europe, giving customers more flexibility, supply security, and global scale.”

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in California, USA, Blue Pacific Flavours has built a reputation for agility, customer-centricity, and clean-label innovation, particularly in the beverage segment and emerging wellness categories. Customers of Blue Pacific Flavors will continue working with their trusted teams, now supported by expanded global resources.

“The integration of Blue Pacific Flavours marks a pivotal moment in our shared journey to build a truly global food ingredients platform with flavors and surface treatments,” said Peter Hantl, CEO of Capol. “Together, we will deliver broader, faster, and more sustainable solutions to customers worldwide, spanning sweets to beverages, coatings to flavor systems.”

Capol, headquartered in Elmshorn, Germany, is a premier manufacturer of added-value food ingredient solutions and global leader in confectionery coatings. As part of the Freudenberg Group, Capol has been expanding its capabilities in natural food colors and flavor innovation, most recently through the acquisition of Curt Georgi in July 2025, a 150-year-old tradition-rich German flavor house, renowned for technical mastery across confectionery, dairy, and baked goods.