Commenting on the acquisition, Joseph Heler managing director George Heler said: “Futura Foods Wales is a fantastic site with huge potential. It offers the Joseph Heler customer base increased capability and capacity across all cheese formats.
“In addition we have further capability investments planned for this year securing a really positive future for current employees and future employees in the area.”
Continental cheese supplier
Futura is one of the largest suppliers of continental cheese – such as Feta, Halloumi and Grana Padano – to the UK and Ireland. The company is owned by Danish dairy business Nordex Food, which also operates dairies in Austria and Romania.
Futura Foods previously acquired Welsh dairy processor GRH Food Company and saved it from insolvency in 2019, four months after it had entered administration due to cash flow issues.
In 2020, Futura opened a new cheese processing site in Minffordd, North Wales and created 22 new jobs as part of a scaling up of its operations.
The Minffordd site is currently working with cheddars, mozzarella, territorials and continental cheeses and employs 60 people.
Supporting existing customers
Joseph Heler will continue to supply Futura Foods Wales’s existing customers and conduct business as usual as part of the acquisition deal.
In other acquisition news, retailer Marks & Spencer has purchased its own logistics company as part of plans to accelerate its food supply chain transformation.
M&S is acquiring the entire share capital of Gist for an initial consideration of £145m in cash. A further amount of £85m plus interest will be payable in cash from the proceeds of the intended onward disposal of freehold properties or, at the latest, on the third anniversary of completion.
Meanwhile, last week saw Premier Foods acquire Indian and South Asian meal kits and accompaniments brands The Spice Tailor in a deal worth £43.8m.
