Barry Callebaut to Acquire FrieslandCampina Kievit Commercial Beverages Vending Activities

10 Nov 2015 --- Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, is strengthening its Specialties business in Europe by acquiring the commercial beverages vending activities from FrieslandCampina Kievit.

The transaction also includes a long-term contract manufacturing agreement under which FrieslandCampina Kievit will continue to produce vending products for Barry Callebaut, such as the Satro Quality Drinks range, at its state-of-the-art production site in Lippstadt, Germany. The acquired activities represent approx. 20,000 tonnes of additional sales volume and CHF 55 million (EUR 50 million/USD 55 million) of additional sales revenue for Barry Callebaut.

Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of the Barry Callebaut Group, said: “Our Beverage business has recorded strong growth in the past fiscal year, benefiting from the increasing trend towards out-of-home consumption. With the acquisition of the commercial beverages vending activities of FrieslandCampina Kievit, we strengthen our range of specialties products. This is fully in line with our goal to drive ‘smart’ growth, i.e. focusing on margin-accretive products and accelerating our growth in Gourmet & Specialties.”

Andrew Fleming, Vice President Beverages, added: “This transaction allows us to further develop our beverage and vending business by getting access to the latest process technology, increasing our innovation power and expanding our product offering – this all to the benefit of our customers.”

Barry Callebaut’s Vending & Beverages division is part of the Gourmet & Specialties Products Group. With two production locations in Sweden and UK, it is a major player in the European beverage and vending industry. The Beverage business specializes in the manufacture and supply of highly soluble chocolate, cappuccino and other powders for use across all aspects of the beverage sector. It has leading R&D capabilities and operates unique state-of-the-art facilities.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Closing of the transaction is expected within the first quarter of 2016.

The parties have agreed not to disclose any financial details of the transaction.

FrieslandCampina Kievit said that the move will let it focus on its core activities, i.e. high quality (foaming) creamers, food ingredients and micro-encapsulates for the global beverage and food industry, including the vending segment. "This agreement allows both companies to focus on their strengths and provides future prospects for the location Lippstadt." says Tine Snels, executive director FrieslandCampina Ingredients. Employees and customers have been informed about the changes. The acquisition is subject to approval of competition authorities. 

Swiss headquartered Barry Callebaut is the world’s leading manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products (B2B), with a sales volume of 1.7 million tons and sales revenue of CHF5.9bn (US$6.5bn). In fact, 1 in 5 chocolate and cocoa products, includes Barry Callebaut. But a recent shift at the company has seen it increasingly look to grow its business in adjacent products that match with chocolate, including decorations [e.g. the 2008 acquisition of IBC (Belgium) and the 2013 acquisition of ASM Foods AB (Sweden)]. A significant part of this expansion strategy has been to grow its nuts product business. The 2012 acquisition of Spain’s la Morella nuts made Barry Callebaut the leader in nut-based ingredients in Europe. This move was followed by the June 2015 acquisition of American Almond, to give gourmet and food manufacturer customers access to a significantly broadened specialties products portfolio. It manufactures about 2,000 MT of nut specialties a year and generated sales revenue of approximately US$15.9 million in 2014.