Wise Ingredients

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By taking a new perspective on life sciences ingredient distribution, Barentz NA is setting future-forward industry standards

Passion, it fuels every attempt at meaningful innovation. When that depth of feeling is driven by knowledge, entrepreneurship, partnership, and the ability to clearly see the road ahead, it’s what changes lives for the better. And for global specialty life sciences and specialty performance ingredients distributor Barentz, it’s their entire reason for living.

Divya Tewari

Established in 1953, Barentz touches the essence of global economies, from human nutrition to industrial applications and everything in between. Their five business divisions reach across every human need: human and animal nutrition, personal care, performance materials, and pharmaceuticals. “We truly impart better quality of life,” said Divya Tewari, president of Barentz North America’s pharmaceutical division. “There’s nothing in your living space that we don’t touch, from the medications and supplements you take and the coffee you drink to the products you use to clean your home – even your house’s construction materials and your car.”

Barentz sources branded specialty ingredients from leading manufacturers worldwide. Its ingredient experts provide value-added technical support which includes pre-mixing, blending, ingredient formulation, and ingredient testing from its state-of-the-art, customized formulation centers and application laboratories in EMEA, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas. Tewari’s division encompasses Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and Central America.

The firm has a unique perspective about life sciences distribution as a whole. “Supply distribution is not taking the product from this supplier and reselling it in the market,” Tewari clarified. “There are a lot of things happening between those two steps.” Simply put, Barentz is part of its customers’ product development cycle. The pharmaceutical division focuses on biopharmaceutical ingredients, excipients (inactive ingredients) and active ingredients for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical customers.

“Broadly speaking, the Barentz portfolio focuses on green, natural, clean, biobased, and sustainable solutions across all business divisions,” she explained. “We stay on top of current industry trends and provide value-added solutions to our customers such as improved performance, reduced development times for new products, formulary support, and intermediate or full-scale manufacturing.”

Globally, Barentz employs over 2,700 people, over 700 of whom are based in North America. The company has 53 application labs around the world, with seven of those in North America. “Each of these labs are supported by world-class scientists, engineers, application specialists, regulatory experts, and by the end market. We not only have functional expertise but also commercial significance across all businesses. At the end, we strive to be ‘One Team, One Goal,’ internally but also with our customers” she noted.

That team spirit is supported by a keen focus on learning, development, and growth on both personal and professional levels. Tewari, a distinguished researcher, author, and holder of 20 patents, exemplifies that dedication with expertise as broad and deep as the company itself.

Fascinated by excipients, as a bench scientist she developed new products for ingredient suppliers, which piqued her interest in understanding market trends. Her journey led from R&D to commercial work and eventually to her current role. “Our global initiative of learning and development is extremely important for us. We believe that it’s our responsibility to improve performance and create opportunities for employees across the board.”

Always on trend

In addition to providing the solutions that their pharmaceutical or nutraceutical customers seek, Barentz tracks industry market trends to anticipate their needs. Creating formulations for direct compression is one such trend that improves tablet manufacturing timelines, reduces costs, and increases efficiencies by reducing the number of steps in the manufacturing process. Their supplier partners offer a comprehensive portfolio of excipients to be used in direct compression formulations.

When it comes to developing partnerships, cultural alignment is an essential consideration. “We look at the supplier’s current product portfolio and the customer needs it addresses, what their innovation program looks like, their knowledge of current industry trends, support, and solutions,” she said.

The division’s pharmaceutical lab, located in the heart of the technology hub in Mexico City, performs R&D, conducts customer training, and often develops starter formulations using the supplier’s ingredients to help shorten development time and improve speed to market. “We partner with the companies and suppliers at the cutting edge of innovation,” she said. “We are working with top quality suppliers who provide natural solutions that create nutraceutical actives backed by scientific evidence, clinical-based data to demonstrate the safety, and efficacy of dietary supplements used in the products that will eventually reach end consumers.”

Two key elements that contribute to Barentz’s supply chain success are risk mitigation and enhanced efficiency. Over the last three years, Barentz has developed a strong balance of global suppliers with the ability to provide integrated, seamless service and flow of information from Asia, Europe, North and South America, complemented by a cadre of very effective local and regional suppliers who specialize in specific ports, modes, and final mile delivery. “This enables us to mitigate risk better,” Tewari said.

Like many global distribution experts, Barentz has learned lessons from the supply chain disruptions in recent years, particularly that their risk mitigation tracking and visibility technology is only as effective as the accuracy of information that flows through it. The global organization has partnered with logistics partners whose leading-edge technology is also supported by a strong team infrastructure to ensure information timeliness and accuracy, which also helps with both risk mitigation and enhancing efficiency.

“We have also been actively working on our distribution and warehouse network, eliminating touch points and process bottlenecks to make our delivery performance stronger and more efficient throughout North America and in other regions,” she added.

Leveraging the power of data analytics and technology is a core initiative to drive both excellence and speed in our commercial and market development collaboration with customers and suppliers.

The company takes responsibility for contributing to a more sustainable world. “Through these initiatives, we are not only enhancing our internal operations but also reaching beyond our walls to inspire meaningful change,” she pointed out. “We participate in local food drives and local activities giving back to the community.” In everything it does, Barentz is all about making life better.