Synercore Holdings

What Synercore Holdings does

Synercore Holdings (Pty) Ltd is a South African food-ingredient and formulation group founded in 2016, headquartered in Klapmuts, Western Cape, with operations spanning five wholly-owned specialist divisions: African Food Industries (AFI) for custom formulation and new-product-development support; Allmark Foods for FSSC 22000-certified contract blending and packing; Impilo Products for enzyme-active and enzyme-inactive soya flour manufacturing with non-GMO options; Sizwe Foods for advanced extrusion and milling of maize and sorghum grains; and Innovative Research Solutions (IRS) for contract analytical testing and applied food research, following the launch of a new state-of-the-art laboratory at Woodmill, Stellenbosch in October 2025. The group also operates dairy and bakery pilot plants for formulation development, reformulation and upscaling, and holds exclusive African distribution partnerships with global ingredient principals including Sacco System (Italy, cultures), Futura Ingredients (emulsifiers), Aromsa (Turkey, flavours) and Solo Africa (functional health ingredients), alongside proprietary system-blend brands (IfaTECH, IfaBEV, IfaBAKE) and emulsifier series (Ekömul, Ekölite).

The company serves more than 160 food manufacturers across Sub-Saharan Africa through a sales-led enterprise field-sales model with technical sales specialists, addressing dairy, beverages, bakery, culinary, meat and poultry, plant-based, wine and spirits, and grain/soya verticals. Revenue is generated through speciality ingredient supply, contract blending and packing services, technical formulation and NPD consulting, and (most recently) contract analytical services — pricing is quote-based and tailored per customer requirement. Synercore manufactures more than 30,000 MT of product annually across its facilities and reports threefold export growth across Africa. The group is led by CEO Dr. Tertius Cilliers, is privately held with no external institutional investment disclosed, and operates under its Vision 2031 strategic plan targeting leadership in African food ingredient innovation and sustainable nutrition solutions.

Name

Synercore Holdings

Legal name

Synercore Holdings (Pty) Ltd

Website

https://synercore.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Synercore Holdings is a South African food-ingredient and formulation group operating five specialist divisions — covering custom formulation, FSSC 22000 contract blending, soya flour manufacturing, grain extrusion, and analytical research — that supplies speciality ingredients, system blends and contract manufacturing services to 160-plus food manufacturers across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Ingredient Manufacturing and Formulation Services

NAICS

Grain and Oilseed Milling (3112), Soybean and Other Oilseed Processing (311224), Food Manufacturing (311)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Couscous, Bulgur & Other Processed Grain Foods Manufacturing (AFAKABAJ)

Keywords

• Food ingredient supply
• Formulation services
• Contract blending
• Soya flour manufacturing
• Grain extrusion milling

Headquarters

HQ city

Paarl

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Speciality Ingredients Supply: Supply of speciality food ingredients including cultures, emulsifiers, enzymes, stabiliser systems, baking powders, emulsification salts, soya flours, grain flours, and flavour compounds to food manufacturers across Sub-Saharan Africa.
2. Contract Blending and Manufacturing: FSSC 22000 certified contract blending and packing services through Allmark Foods for dry, liquid and paste ingredients with multi-format batch production capabilities.
3. Technical Formulation Services: Product formulation, reformulation and application development services providing end-to-end NPD support from ideation to commercialisation through African Food Industries (AFI).
4. Analytical and Research Services: Contract analytical testing and research services offered through Innovative Research Solutions (IRS) to industry partners, suppliers and clients using advanced laboratory equipment.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Synercore Holdings is a South African food-ingredient and formulation group that supplies speciality ingredients (cultures, emulsifiers, enzymes, stabiliser systems, baking powders, soya flours, grain flours, flavours, sweetener solutions, and health/functional ingredients) and provides end-to-end product formulation, contract blending, soya flour manufacturing, grain extrusion, and analytical research services to food manufacturers across dairy, beverages, bakery, culinary, meat, plant-based, confectionery, and wine sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Product overview

Synercore Holdings is a South African food-ingredient and formulation group operating across five specialist divisions: African Food Industries (AFI) for custom formulation and NPD support, Allmark Foods for contract blending and packing (FSSC 22000 certified), Impilo Products for soya flour manufacturing, Sizwe Foods for grain extrusion and milling, and Innovative Research Solutions (IRS) for analytical testing and research. The company's product portfolio centres on system blends (IfaTECH™, IfaBEV™, IfaBAKE™), cultures (via Sacco System partnership), emulsifiers (Ekömul™, Ekölite™ via Futura Ingredients), baking powders, food-grade enzymes, soya flours, grain flours, emulsification salts, wine ingredients (IntoWijn/I2W), meat ingredients (cures, brines, StayFresh shelf-life extenders), health and functional ingredients (via Solo Africa partnership), sweetener solutions, and Aromsa flavours. The group also operates dairy and bakery pilot plants for formulation development and testing. IRS provides contract analytical services including chromatography, mass spectrometry, and PCR. The integrated ecosystem enables product development from ideation through commercialisation across dairy, bakery, beverage, plant-based, culinary, confectionery, meat, and wine sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• African Food Industries (AFI): Develops customised ingredient solutions and formulations with end-to-end NPD support tailored to product requirements. Provides in-depth industry knowledge from ideation to commercialisation.
• Allmark Foods
• Impilo Products
• Sizwe Foods
• Innovative Research Solutions (IRS)
• IntoWijn (I2W)
• Ekömul
• Ekölite
• IfaBAKE
• Breadsoy
• Infrasoy
• StayFresh
• IfaTECH
• IfaBEV

Products and services

• IfaTECH Stabiliser Systems Tailor-made stabiliser systems designed to enhance texture, stability and mouthfeel while streamlining the manufacturing process for dairy applications.
• IfaBEV Stabiliser Blends Stabiliser blends for beverages ensuring optimal stabilisation, mouthfeel, viscosity and buffering capacity, including ready-to-mix beverage components and batch packs.
• IfaBAKE System Blends Tailored bakery system blends supporting performance, consistency and quality while remaining cost-effective and easy to use for industrial bakery manufacturers.
• Sacco System Cultures Comprehensive range of cultures for dairy and plant-based products distributed across Africa via exclusive partnership with Sacco System (Italy). Includes yoghurt starter cultures, cheese starter cultures, protective cultures (4Protection range), plant-based cultures (4Choice range), and probiotics in freeze-dried format.
• Ekömul Emulsifier Series High-performance emulsifier solutions for dairy, plant-based, bakery, culinary and confectionery applications, sourced via partnership with Futura Ingredients. Includes Ekömul KREM, LM, MG and MYXT/NEXT series for texturising, aerating and stabilising functions.
• Ekölite Emulsifier Series Specialised emulsifier range for bakery, culinary and confectionery applications, including SL and CL series for dough conditioning, PGPR for chocolate yield modification, PE and PG series for aeration, LM series for volume improvement, and Krys series for fat crystallisation.
• Emulsification & Melting Salts High-quality emulsifying salts for processed cheeses, cheese spreads and cheese analogues, enhancing taste, appearance, melting properties, flavour release, pH balance, adhesiveness and stabilisation. Includes buffer salts and melting salts for various cheese applications.
• Soya Flours (Breadsoy, Infrasoy, Defatted) Range of soya flours produced by Impilo Products including Breadsoy (full-fat, enzyme-active), Infrasoy (heat-treated, enzyme-inactive) and Defatted varieties. Available in standard and dehulled versions with non-GMO options for clean-label formulations.
• Grain Flours (Maize and Sorghum) Range of grain flours including white and yellow maize as well as red sorghum, extruded and milled using Grade 1 grains to achieve consistent particle size and quality. Includes Maize Flour (MF), All Maize (AM), Mighty Maize (MM), Tender Light (TL), Superior Light (SL), and Sorghum Eeze (SE) variants.
• Quik Cook Samp White, degerminated coarse maize product that requires no overnight soaking and cooks within 30 minutes, produced via Sizwe Foods' extrusion and exfoliation technology.
• Food-grade Enzymes Versatile range of food-grade enzymes enhancing processing efficiency, improving product quality and supporting innovative formulations. Includes lactase enzyme for lactose-free dairy, processability enzymes for beverages and plant-based milks, and multi-function bakery enzyme systems.
• Meat Cures & Brines Curing blends for all cured and comminuted meat products, and brine solutions for meat and poultry applications designed to maximise yield.
• StayFresh Shelf-life Extenders Shelf-life extenders for sausages, poultry, and fresh and processed meat products.
• Meat Complete Packs Process-ready packs for simplified processing of Russian/Hungarian sausages, nuggets, patties and salami sticks.
• IntoWijn (I2W) Wine Ingredients Locally produced, cost-effective ingredient solutions for South Africa's wine and spirits industry through the IntoWijn division. Includes acidulants for wine balance and freshness, stabilisation systems for tartrate and colour stability, and tannins for structure, mouthfeel and aging potential.
• Health & Functional Ingredients Wide portfolio of clinically proven health and functional ingredients for food and beverage applications, delivered through partnership with Solo Africa. Includes amino acids (powder, monomer, micronized and granulated), minerals (salt or chelated form), vitamins (fat and water-soluble), and branded health ingredients.
• Sweetener Solutions Sweetener solutions that reduce sugar, optimise cost and maintain a clean, balanced taste profile, supporting sugar-tax compliance. Includes sweetener syrup (SE 8-12), sugar syrup (1:3 sucrose replacement), flavour modulators (Mod14), and sweetener blends (SE 140-150).
• Aromsa Flavours Premium food and beverage flavours distributed across the African market through partnership with Aromsa (Turkey). Includes dairy flavours, beverage flavours (emulsions, clouding agents, extracts), bakery flavours, and culinary/savoury flavour solutions.
• Product Formulation & Solutions Customised ingredient solutions and formulations tailored to specific requirements, with end-to-end new product development support from ideation to commercialisation, delivered through African Food Industries (AFI).
• Contract Blending and Packing FSSC 22000 certified contract blending and packing service through the Allmark Foods facility for dry, liquid and paste ingredients, with strict allergen controls and tailor-made multi-format batch production.
• Dairy Pilot Plant State-of-the-art dairy pilot plant for recipe development, product evaluation and troubleshooting across the full spectrum of dairy applications, allowing development, testing and refinement of formulations before full-scale production.
• Bakery Pilot Plant State-of-the-art bakery pilot plant for performance testing and optimisation across volume, softness, colour, texture and shelf life parameters.
• Innovative Research Solutions (IRS) Analytical and Research Services Medium- to long-term research and tailored contract analytical testing services delivered through Innovative Research Solutions (IRS) laboratory at Woodmill, Stellenbosch. Equipped with ultraperformance liquid chromatography, tandem mass spectrometry, multimode spectrophotometers, gas chromatography, real-time PCR and rapid automated microbial analysis systems. Services are offered as contract services to industry partners, suppliers and clients beyond Synercore.

Quantifiable outcome

• Serves 160+ customers across Sub-Saharan Africa
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor, strategic and core.

• Hope for Youth SAminorOthers · 16 October 2024Non-profit organization that received 200 food boxes from Synercore for distribution to local soup kitchens as part of World Food Day 2024 campaign supporting UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Tiger BrandsstrategicGTM or Marketing Partner · 15 September 2024Partnership supporting Tiger Brands' #Plates4Days flagship nutrition initiative which addresses campus hunger at South African universities. Synercore contributes specially formulated nutritious Soya Mince as part of monthly food hampers for students.
• Sacco SystemcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExclusive partnership with Sacco System in Italy for supply of cultures for dairy and plant-based fermentation. Synercore distributes Sacco's comprehensive range of cultures including yoghurt starter cultures, cheese starter cultures, protective cultures (4Protection range), plant-based cultures (4Choice range), and probiotics throughout the African market.
• Futura IngredientscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Futura Ingredients for delivery of high-performance emulsifier solutions to the African market. Through this partnership, Synercore supplies Futura's Ekömul and Ekölite series emulsifiers for dairy, bakery, culinary, and confectionery applications.
• Webflow Inc.minorOthersWebsite hosting and content management platform provider based in the United States. Webflow provides the technical infrastructure for synercore.co.za.
• Google LLCminorOthersWebsite analytics provider using Google Analytics to track pages visited, time on site, and traffic sources. Analytics cookies (_ga, _gid, _gat) collect anonymised usage data.
• Microsoft CorporationminorOthersEmail management via Microsoft 365 platform for business communications and contact form submissions.
• AromsacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAromsa is a leading Turkish manufacturer of flavours and food ingredients. Synercore distributes Aromsa's extensive flavour portfolio across the African market, combining advanced technology with local technical support. Product range includes dairy flavours, beverage flavours, bakery flavours, and culinary savoury flavours.
• Solo AfricacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Solo Africa for health and functional ingredients portfolio. Through this partnership, Synercore offers clinically proven functional ingredients including amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and branded health ingredients tailored for food and beverage applications.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Brenntag: Brenntag is the world's largest specialty chemicals and ingredients distributor with a heavy food and nutrition portfolio, offering technical sales, formulation support and blending services. Comparable to Synercore's enterprise field-sales distribution plus contract blending model for food manufacturers in emerging geographies.
• Kerry Group: Kerry Group is a global taste and nutrition ingredients company serving food and beverage manufacturers with flavours, functional ingredients, and application solutions. Comparable to Synercore's B2B ingredient distribution, formulation expertise, and system-blend model across multiple food categories.
• IMCD Group: IMCD is a specialty ingredients and chemicals distributor that combines third-party brand distribution with formulation and technical support across food, nutrition and personal care. Closely mirrors Synercore's model of distributing global ingredient brands (Sacco, Futura, Aromsa, Solo) with local application expertise in emerging markets.

Broad incumbents

• International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF): IFF is a global leader in flavours, fragrances, food ingredients, and cultures serving food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. Directly comparable to Synercore's flavours portfolio (Aromsa distribution) and cultures business (Sacco System partnership) at significantly larger scale.
• Corbion: Corbion is a global food ingredients and biochemicals company with leading positions in lactic acid, cultures, and preservation solutions for bakery, dairy and meat applications. Comparable to Synercore's meat shelf-life extenders, bakery, dairy and culinary ingredient portfolio with overlapping application focus.
• Novonesis (formerly Novozymes / Chr. Hansen): Novonesis is the global leader in food cultures, enzymes, and probiotics following the merger of Novozymes and Chr. Hansen. Comparable to Synercore's Sacco System cultures distribution and food-grade enzymes portfolio, representing the global incumbent whose partner (Sacco) competes directly.
• Lesaffre: Lesaffre is a global fermentation specialist producing yeast, cultures, and fermentation-derived ingredients for bakery, brewing, dairy and biotechnology applications. Comparable to Synercore's cultures (Sacco System), bakery enzymes, and fermentation-focused formulation work for dairy and plant-based customers.
• Sensient Technologies: Sensient Technologies is a global manufacturer and supplier of flavours, fragrances, colours, and ingredients for food, beverage and personal care. Comparable to Synercore's flavours portfolio (Aromsa) and ingredient system blends across dairy, beverage and culinary applications at larger global scale.
• Tate & Lyle: Tate & Lyle is a global provider of food and beverage ingredients and solutions, particularly sweeteners, starches, and texturants. Comparable to Synercore's sweetener solutions (sugar-replacement systems), grain-based texturants, and IfaTECH/IfaBEV system blends serving sugar-reduction and beverage customers.
• Ingredion Incorporated: Ingredion is a major global ingredient solutions provider specialising in starches, sweeteners, and plant-based ingredients for food and beverage manufacturers. Comparable to Synercore's grain/oilseed processing (Impilo soya flours, Sizwe maize/sorghum flours) and sweetener solution business at much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/synercore

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Synercore Holdings