Unilever Agrees to Sell Meat Snacks Business to Jack Link's

24 Feb 2014 --- Unilever announced that it has signed a definitive agreement for the sale of its meat snacks business to Jack Link’s, for an undisclosed amount, as the company continues to focus on its core categories and big, global brands.

The sale of its meat snacks business includes the brands Bifi, sold in Germany, Benelux, Austria and Switzerland, and Peperami, which retails in the UK and Ireland.

The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions, also includes the manufacturing unit in Ansbach, Germany.

Jan Zijderveld, Unilever Europe President, said: “Bifi and Peperami are two iconic local brands. As we continue to sharpen our portfolio to deliver sustainable growth for Unilever, we believe that the potential of these two brands can now be more fully realised with Jack Link’s.”

Unilever is concentrating on four areas it describes as ‘mega-categories’, which are Personal Care, Home Care, Foods and Refreshment. Within the latter two divisions, the core categories are dressings (such as Hellmann’s), spreads (Flora), Savoury (eg Knorr), Ice Cream (including iconic brands: Wall’s, Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s, Cornetto, Carte d’Or) and beverages (essentially tea, such as PG Tips and Lipton).

A spokesman for the company confirmed that it is the core categories and also the big, global brands that Unilever is focussing on, going forwards.

Earlier this month the company applied to the Food Standards Agency extend the use of the key cholesterol-lowering ingredient used in its Flora pro.activ range into cooking and baking margarines as well as liquid margarine products, which would tap simultaneously into the growth sectors of functional foods and home-baking.

The full Flora pro.activ range contains these plant sterols, which have been shown to lower blood cholesterol.

Unilever has been investing heavily in its healthy foods offerings in the past few years, including products within the spreads category. According to the company, the healthy spreads category accounts for 22% of all butters and spreads and Flora pro.activ is a key player within this.

By making this application, it is possible that Unilever plans to extend its Flora Cuisine product under the pro.activ umbrella. Flora Cuisine is a cooking liquid created from a blend of linseed, rapeseed and sunflower oils. The product, already described as ‘heart healthy’ is promoted for use in frying, roasting and baking. It is lower in saturated fat than olive oil and high in omega 3.

The popularity of home-baking continues to grow, particularly in countries such as the UK where consumers have been inspired by celebrity chefs and television baking programmes. In the UK the home-baking market is worth £1.8m and it has grown 37% in the past five years. Value and volume sales are reported to be in strong growth across Europe.

by Sonya Hook