Finlays to Acquire Casa Fuentes Tea Estates in Argentina

17 Sep 2014 --- Finlays have bought 100% share capital of Casa Fuentes S.A.C.I.F.I. (based in Argentina) for an undisclosed sum. Finlays is a market leader in the tea industry with a long history of owning and operating tea plantations.

Finlays operates in all parts of the tea supply chain and brings ‘bush to cup’ tea knowledge to leaf tea procurement, product development and innovation. It is also the leading private label packer of roast and ground coffee in the UK.

Casa Fuentes is the largest tea estate company in Argentina with an annual production capacity of 27 million kgs of Black Tea per annum, based in the Province of Misiones. With over 50 years in the market, Casa Fuentes has been a pioneer in the export of black tea to the North American market and a key supplier to the tea industry. Casa Fuentes owns and operates over 2,000 ha of tea plantations and 5 factory sites fully equipped with tea processing, grading, blending, packing, storage and export shipping facilities. Approximately 90% of the tea is exported, principally to North America. In addition, Casa Fuentes operates a Yerba Mate Processing Plant with an annual capacity of 3 million kg.

Finlays Group Managing Director, Ron Mathison, said: “Assurance of supply of sustainably produced tea that is clean of pesticide is a strategic imperative for Finlays. All the tea produced by Casa Fuentes is Rainforest Alliance certified and free from pesticide residues. The black tea produced in Argentina is particularly suited to the manufacturing of tea extracts which are highly sought after by the RTD Tea Beverage companies in USA”.

“Finlays is already a market leader in the delivery of tea and coffee extract solutions to the Food and Beverage business sector in USA. This acquisition will not only provide assurance of supply of suitable raw material, it will provide Finlays with a platform for Research and Development, New Product Development and Innovation in delivering custom specific tea blends”.

Finlays is a vertically integrated agribusiness with a core focus on tea and horticulture. Founded in 1750, James Finlay became a wholly-owned subsidiary of John Swire & Sons in 2000. The Company has extensive tea and horticultural interests in Kenya, South Africa and Sri Lanka complemented by global trading, packaging and extraction activities.

Finlays Tea Estates in Kenya and Sri Lanka total more than 15,000 hectares producing 40 million kilos of black tea annually. Finlays operates in all aspects of the tea supply chain, from Bush to Cup: growing, trading, blending, extracting, packaging and distributing tea. Finlays is one of the largest suppliers of Fairtrade tea and coffee in the world.

Finlays is one of the world’s largest tea traders trading over 70 million kilos of tea a year and is a market leader in the supply of quality tea and coffee extracts including instant teas and aromas, dealing with all the world’s top beverages companies. The Company also has businesses in the UK and Sri Lanka sourcing, blending and packaging private label tea (and in the UK coffee) for customers in the UK, the Middle East and Japan.