UK management stay in Tilda rice deal
The deal, which was clinched for $357M (£218.1M), and follows the group’s purchase of Ella’s Kitchen last year, was announced today (January 13). Tilda, which is based in the UK, but sells in 40 countries worldwide, clocked up $190M (£115.9M) in net sales in 2013, according to Hain Celestial’s statement.
The US-based natural and organic products firm said it expected the acquisition to boost sales in the second half of 2014.
More than 60 dry rice and ready-to-heat branded Basmati and speciality rice products are sold under the Tilda brand, promoted as being free of genetically modified ingredients, including Akash Basmati and Abu Shmagh.
“We welcome Rohit Samani, md — UK, and his team of sales, marketing, operations and finance professionals, including Bob Bailie, Sunil Bhanji, Umesh Parmar and Lesley Woodward, who collectively have over 100 years of experience at Tilda,” said Irwin Simon, founder, president and ceo of Hain Celestial.
‘Plan to grow the brand’
“We plan to grow the Tilda brand further using our existing solid distribution platform in the US, Canada and Europe with Basmati and ready-to-heat rice product offerings.
“Tilda’s existing, fast-growing markets in MENA [Middle East and North America] and India provide us with new markets for expansion of our global brands including Earth's Best, Ella's Kitchen, Celestial Seasonings, Terra, Rice Dream and Almond Dream, to name a few ...
“Rohit and his team will be responsible for Tilda and our growth into these new markets.”
Simon said the agreement would enable Hain Celestial to expand its better-for-you portfolio into the premium Basmati rice category along with other speciality rice products.
Ready-to-heat growth
Tilda, which was credited with being the first company to bring Basmati rice to the western World, was founded by the Thakrar family in 1972. Shilen Thakrar, who was among the founders, said: “The global market for Basmati rice has grown strongly over the last several years. At the same time, the growth in the ready-to-heat market has also been strong.
“We believed Tilda needed to align with a company with the full resources, size and scale of Hain Celestial and its global platform of products in order to realise the full worldwide potential of our rice brands.”
