Bradenton, FL—HP Ingredients (HPI) has purchased a stake in Herbal & Antioxidant Derivatives (H&AD) of Calabria, Italy, making HPI a shareholder contributing to worldwide sales and marketing for the company, according to a press release.

H&AD manufactures a patented bergamot polyphenolic extract supported by human clinical trials.

“Alongside with pre-clinical and clinical studies proving our products effectiveness, we adopted the principles of the Mediterranean Diet, based on the use of vegetables and citrus derivatives,” explained Domenico Malara, President of H&AD, in the press release. “Within this context, we re-evaluated the use of Bergamot, which has been adopted for centuries in traditional medicine. Bergamot differs from the other varieties of Citrus for high content of polyphenols, that are natural compounds best known for their antioxidant effects. Today, H&AD is considered one of the top-ranking companies in the area of Bergamot derivatives and natural products.”

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HPI has been the exclusive North American sales and marketing partner for Bergamonte full-spectrum bergamot extract since 2008.

Annie Eng, CEO of HPI, is now one of the four Directors of H&AD. Eng and Hame Persaud, HPI’s EVP, will oversee all general marketing and sales of H&AD’s products worldwide, including brand marketing, customer conversion, content and digital marketing, email campaign marketing, and all aspects of marketing communications.

“Bergamonte has long been a stellar nutraceutical ingredient for HPI as the scientific portfolio and quality assurance supporting it has been highly attractive for our growing customer base,” Eng stated. “As a shareholder in H&AD, HP Ingredients is now vertically integrated and we are looking forward to growing the scientific portfolio and sales of both companies.”