FJ Need operates the Spinneyfields brand of cheese products.
Irish dairy exporter Ornua has signed an agreement to acquire UK-based cheese ingredients company FJ Need.
The acquisition includes a ‘well-invested’ cheese cutting, grating and slicing facility, as well as two cheese brands and a distribution fleet, Ornua said.
The acquisition is central to the Irish company’s strategy of further strengthening its core businesses in Germany, North America and the UK, following the latter’s decision to leave the European Union. FJ Need’s capabilities will allow Ornua to strengthen its business ‘in the post-Brexit environment’, it claimed.
Ornua CEO Kevin Lane said: “This acquisition will be another important milestone in Ornua’s growth as a global supplier of quality dairy products. We are buying an excellent family dairy business which allows us to significantly strengthen our presence in the UK ingredients sector. The complementary nature of our customer bases and the potential to further scale the business makes this a strong fit for Ornua. We are looking forward to working with Paul and Tracey Need to grow the business in the coming years.”
FJ Need supplies an extensive range of British and Irish cheese ingredients to the foodservice and food manufacturing sectors. J Need’s cheese production facility currently produces 16,000 tonnes of cheese ingredients a year, with Ornua believing that there is significant potential to expand this capacity to take advantage of the rapidly growing foodservice market for cheese ingredients both in the UK and overseas.
Its everyday products include grated, sliced, diced and block cheeses – as well as speciality cheese varieties such as soft, continental and flavoured.
The potential for expansion into new sectors, including leveraging Ornua’s existing export routes to market, is a key benefit identified by Ornua in concluding the transaction.
Ornua has been a supplier of high-quality Irish cheese to FJ Need for a number of years, and the acquisition will strengthen its existing supply channel.
The FJ Need acquisition will be the latest in a series of significant investments by Ornua, targeting new routes to market for Irish dairy products. The last two years has seen Ornua invest in acquisitions and significant capital expenditure in Europe, Africa, the US and China.
It comes soon after the recent acquisition of US powder ingredient business CoreFX.
And earlier this month, Bord Bia, the Irish food board, announced that the country’s food exports had exceeded €11 billion for the first time in spite of its increasingly difficult trading relationship with the UK. Exports to the UK from Ireland fell 8%, but this decline was offset by significant growth in exports to North America and China, as well as a recovery in the value of exports to other EU countries.
The deal for FJ Need is still subject to competition approval in the UK.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024