Japanese giant Suntory Beverage & Food (SBF) has announced plans to sell the Cerebos Food & Instant Coffee business in Australia & New Zealand to the Kraft Heinz Company.
The deal, which also includes the Asian Home Gourmet Singapore business, takes in brands like Fountain, Gravox and Asian Home Gourmet.
The Kraft Heinz Company has bought the business for $290 million with the sale expected to be completed first quarter 2018, subject to regulatory approvals.
SBF, a subsidiary of Suntory Group, will retain the Cerebos Fresh Coffee business as a new business unit called Suntory Coffee, with a view to capitalising on the rapidly growing global fresh coffee market.
Cerebos’ Food & Instant Coffee makes sauces, gravies, herbs & spices, salt, condiments, Asian sauces, desserts and cooking ingredients and its brands include Fountain, Gravox, Saxa, Foster Clark’s, Gregg’s, Bisto, Raro and Asian Home Gourmet.
The Kraft Heinz Company is the fifth-largest food and beverage company, and in Australia and New Zealand, spans Heinz, Kraft, Wattie’s, Eta and Golden Circle brands across categories such as beans & spaghetti, sauces, soups, sauces & dressings and many others.
“The transaction provides an exciting opportunity for Kraft Heinz to expand its portfolio into complementary categories, stretching the footprint of Cerebos’ brands into new categories and markets.” CEO of Kraft Heinz Australia and New Zealand Bruno Lino who will lead the combined business said.
“In addition to the iconic local brands, Cerebos has a strong team that will play an important role in our future growth.
“This transaction reinforces our commitment and long-term plan to the Australia and New Zealand markets in addition to our significant investment in the Kraft brand for 2018. We will continue investing in our brands, factories and our employees to meet consumer needs and expectations,” he said.
The CEO of Cerebos Australia/New Zealand Terry Svenson said the company was pleased with the outcome of the transaction.
“As we announced in April 2017, the Food & Instant Coffee business has a number of market-leading brands across Australia and New Zealand and has made significant progress in recent years, particularly in relation to improvements in manufacturing efficiency.
“However, food and instant coffee is not a core focus category for SBF and we believe this business can be maximised under different ownership. The Food & Instant Coffee business will now have opportunities to leverage Kraft Heinz’s operations to grow the business further.
“In the meantime, the transaction also enables our Fresh Coffee business, to benefit from SBF’s continued investment and focus on its beverage portfolio, so we can capitalise on our market leading positions to maximise growth opportunities,” Svenson said.
Svenson will lead the new Fresh Coffee business as CEO.
