Sauce company acquired by French food group
Solina Group made the acquisition to strengthen its presence in the UK. It said New Ivory would benefit from Solina’s network of research and development centres and technologies.
West Yorkshire-based New ivory produces culinary sauces for the UK meat, meat and poultry industries and employs about 180 people.
Solina said the purchase would complement its culinary wet sauces operation along side its existing Netherlands-based Nieuw Vennep factory.
Solina ceo Laurent Weber said: “New Ivory is highly recognized for its proactivity and service level in both the retail and industry markets.
‘impressed by the level of quality’
“We have been particularly impressed by the level of quality of the production process. We look forward to working with the management team to develop further our new platform in the UK.”
New Ivory will gain access to Solina’s products, ingredients and services as part of the deal, according to Weber.
Whitehead expressed sadness that his time with the company would be coming to an end but thought it was the right move for New Ivory.
“Whilst I’m sad it’s the end of an era for me, I think it’s the right thing for New Ivory and the team,” said Whitehead.
“In addition to the culinary expertise and customer focus at the heart of New Ivory’s value proposition, Solina brings a global reach and scale now needed to compete in a truly world-class market like chilled food.”
‘Welcome the ongoing choice’
“Solina’s plans in the UK are very exciting and I think our customers will welcome the ongoing choice that the introduction of Solina will bring.”
New Ivory md Adam Jones will stay with the company after the sale, along with the rest of the management team.
Jones said he was looking forward to being part of the Solina Group and that together with Solina the company would continue to develop its products to help customers achieve their growth plans and “provide greater assurance throughout the supply chain”.
Solina planned to expand in Europe by boosting sales within its three core sectors: savoury ingredients, supply butchers and foodservice and developing nutritional concepts.
