First Milk Expands Product Range with Kingdom Acquisition

The acquisition is bang on target with our drive to diversify our product and customer base. It brings cottage cheese, soft cheese and mozzarella products into our range as well as providing us with more opportunities to sell grated cheese products.

5/31/2011 --- First Milk has purchased Kingdom Cheese and Kingdom Dairies, both based in Fife in Scotland, in a move that strengthens its presence in the UK and international cheese markets.

The acquisition means that, in addition to producing a comprehensive range of award-winning cheddars, First Milk will now be able to offer its customers a selection of cottage cheese, soft cheese, mozzarella products and creams.

Kingdom Dairies produces an array of cottage cheese and soft cheese products for a range of customers including the major retail chains, foodservice wholesalers and food manufacturers.

Kingdom Cheese supplies foodservice, wholesalers and pizza chains in the UK, Ireland and Europe with mozzarella cheese, cheddar mixes and blends in shredded, grated and diced formats.

Commenting on the acquisition, Kate Allum, First Milk’s chief executive said:

“The acquisition is bang on target with our drive to diversify our product and customer base. It brings cottage cheese, soft cheese and mozzarella products into our range as well as providing us with more opportunities to sell grated cheese products. In addition, the purchase strengthens our retail category presence and delivers a significant presence in the foodservice arena.

“Kingdom has a growing export portfolio, which complements the work on cheese, powder and butter we have been doing recently with Eilers & Wheelers in international markets.

“The flexibility of the Kingdom Dairies processing facility provides us with a wide range of new product development opportunities for soft cheese. We will explore options across both branded and retail private label market opportunities.

“Ultimately, the key measure is that we firmly believe that this move provides us with a platform to grow not only turnover and profits but also the returns we can provide to our members.”