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Italian food ingredients company Nexture has today (21 September 2026) announced its acquisition of La Crema, a Dubai-based manufacturer of chocolate and food ingredients for applications across bakery, ice cream and fine pastry.
Once the deal is complete, Nexture will establish its manufacturing presence in the Middle East, aiming to enhance its foothold in a key growth region through direct access to its growing ingredients industry.
The acquisition will widen Nexture’s portfolio of solutions, adding a range of chocolate products such as cream fillings, bars, chips and buttons, as well as other cream fillings, ice cream solutions, ready-mix powders and fruit fillings.
Nexture’s industrial footprint will expand from eight factories at entry in 2021 to 30 factories worldwide, including two in North America, four in Africa, one in the Middle East, one in Asia, and the remaining 22 across eight European countries. Its workforce will surpass 2,900 employees.
Headquartered in Milan, Nexture is held by an independently managed investment company affiliated with InvestIndustrial. It operates in over 120 countries and supports a wide range of food and beverage market segments including bakery, dairy, bars and snacks, plant-based alternatives, ready meals, beverages, sauces, confectionery and more.
La Crema was founded by Bilal Khalife in 2016 as a trading business serving the hospitality and foodservice industry, before expanding into in-house manufacturing in 2018. It offers a diverse portfolio of products commercialised under the La Crema brand or through private labels, with a production facility based in Dubai and a workforce of approximately 170 employees in production, operations, sales and marketing.
Completion of the deal, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, is expected to take place by the end of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
The acquisition follows Nexture’s purchases of Frulact and Sipral Padana, completed in March and April 2026 respectively, as part of the company’s ‘buy-and-build’ strategy. In 2021, it acquired CSM Ingredients and has since evolved into a global group with estimated annual revenues of approximately €1.2 billion, pro-forma for the recently signed La Crema agreement.
Valerie-Diele Braun, CEO of Nexture, said La Crema is a natural fit for Nexture’s portfolio due to its “rich and diversified chocolate offering,” unlocking “meaningful synergies across the group”.
She added: “We're also particularly excited to strengthen our chocolate offering as it is a category that inspires creativity, delights consumers and creates lasting value for our customers. We are delighted to partner with Mr Bilal Khalife, who has built and developed La Crema into the business it is today. We look forward to working with him to unlock the company's next phase of growth."
