Leading Dutch Peanut Butter and Ingredients Supplier Bredabest Joins Natra

MADRID & RAAMSDONKSVEER, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 4, 2025--

Natra, one of Europe’s leading private label and co-manufacturing companies for chocolate products, and Bredabest, a leading Dutch producer of peanut butter and other peanut-based ingredients, join forces to create a powerhouse in sweet spreads and confectionery, combining expertise, innovation, and scale to better serve customers across Europe and beyond.

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Natra has agreed to acquire Bredabest, which will facilitate the ongoing growth and development of the two businesses.

With Natra being one of continental Europe’s largest producers of hazelnut chocolate spreads, the partnership combines Bredabest’s expertise in peanut processing with Natra’s global platform and distribution network, expanding Natra’s portfolio to include peanut-based spreads and other peanut-based ingredients. This complementary acquisition strengthens product offerings, cross-selling opportunities, and supply chain integration, while supporting Natra’s ambitious international growth strategy, which recently included the acquisition of Belgian chocolate producer Gudrun in September 2024.

Founded in 1996 and based in the Netherlands, Bredabest is a leading European producer of peanut butter and value-added peanut ingredients, supplying 100% pure and natural spreads to retailers, FMCGs, and fast-growing consumer brands. Known for its quality, reliability, and strong customer partnerships, Bredabest is also a key player in the fast-growing pure and organic peanut butter segments and a significant importer of peanuts into Europe. Joining forces with Natra provides access to a wider international network and additional resources to support sustainable growth, while continuing operations at its existing facilities with all employees retained, ensuring continuity for customers and suppliers.

The company was founded by Pieter Stienen and Rainier van Rey, who have served as CEO and Managing Partner since its inception. They will remain shareholders of the group and continue with the business.

Bredabest will continue to operate under its existing brand and maintain its established way of working. The company’s management team will remain in place and continue to lead day-to-day operations, ensuring consistency for employees, customers, and suppliers. This continuity provides assurance that Bredabest’s culture, entrepreneurial spirit, and long-standing values will be preserved while benefiting from the resources and global reach of Natra.

Bredabest operates two state-of-the-art processing locations in the Netherlands with significant capacity for future growth. Since its establishment Bredabest has earned a strong reputation for a customer-centric, tailored, and highly agile full-service offering, building long-standing partnerships with leading global food producers across more than 30 countries.

A portfolio company of CapVest Partners LLP (“CapVest”), Natra is a leader in the production of chocolate bars, pralines, tablets and chocolate hazelnut spreads, which it sells in more than 90 countries worldwide. Its ingredients division also supplies a wide range of cocoa-based ingredients to the international food industry. The company has over 1,400 employees across seven production plants in Spain, Belgium, France and Canada.

Commenting on the transaction, Armando Santacesaria, CEO of Natra, said: “Pieter and Rainier have built a fantastic business that is complementary to our business and aligns perfectly with Natra’s model. This exciting acquisition strengthens our ability to enhance our customer offering and accelerates our journey to becoming the preferred Private Label partner in Snacking & Indulgence. Looking ahead, Natra’s scale, global reach, and strong customer relationships will be transformational for Bredabest. We’re excited to welcome our new colleagues and work together to build on their impressive achievements and drive the growth of our combined business.”

Pieter Stienen, Founder and CEO of Bredabest, said: “We are pleased to join forces with Natra, a strong long-term partner to take Bredabest into its next phase of growth. Natra’s global scale and complementary portfolio will unlock new opportunities while safeguarding the values and customer focus that have underpinned Bredabest’s success. My business partner Rainier van Rey and myself will remain part of Bredabest in our current roles, while remaining shareholders. In that respect we are fully committed to make this partnership a success.”

Completion of the transaction is subject to conditions and regulatory approval.

Bredabest was advised by Squarefield, Vriman M&A Lawyers and PwC.

Natra was advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher and KPMG.

Founded in 1996, Bredabest is recognised across Europe for its pure and natural spreads, value-added peanut ingredients, and strong customer partnerships, with a major role in the growing organic peanut butter segment.

Founded in 1996, Bredabest is recognised across Europe for its pure and natural spreads, value-added peanut ingredients, and strong customer partnerships, with a major role in the growing organic peanut butter segment.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.

Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships from conducting trade, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com.

Madani said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)