Newly-formed ethnic foods company Vibrant Foods has announced the acquisition of Cofresh Snack Foods (CSF), an Indian and healthy snacks firm, for an undisclosed sum.
Following the deal, CSF will join a portfolio of brands with the aim to further establish Vibrant Food’s as a producer and distributor of South Asian ethnic foods in the UK and across continental Europe.
Established in 2020 by Exponent Private Equity, Vibrant Foods is currently made up of the TRS Foods and East End Foods brands, which sell a range of pulses, spices, flours, and Indian food ingredients and snacks.
With its new Vibrant Foods umbrella, the private equity firm aims to consolidate the apparent growing ethnic foods and healthy snacking market.
CSF is made up of two key brands; Cofresh, an Indian snack brand in the UK, and Eat Real, a free-from snacking brand in the UK, whose flagship products include lentil, hummus and quinoa chips. According to the press release, CSF recorded retail sales of £75 million in 2019.
Rohit Samani, chairman of Vibrant Foods, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Cofresh Snack Foods to Vibrant Foods. Its broad range of authentic and high-quality snacks complements our existing product offering of South Asian staples, and further cements our position as one of the leading South Asian foods producer in Europe.
“The Eat Real brand provides us with a bridgehead into a customer base of health-conscious mainstream consumers, for whom our broad range of pulses is an ideal source of plant-based protein.”
Following the deal, CSF’s selling shareholders, the Patel family, will re-invest in Vibrant Foods with a minority equity stake.
Priyesh Patel, shareholder and managing director of Cofresh Snack Foods, said: “Becoming part of Vibrant Foods is opening up an exciting new chapter in our history. There are tremendous growth opportunities for our sector, as popularity for both ethnic and healthy snacking products continues to grow.
“Being part of a dynamic food group will allow us to accelerate our growth trajectory, maintaining and building our market-leading product offering, and helping us penetrate new markets and distribution channels.”
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