Givaudan selling grated cheese business to St. Paul Group
The processed and grated cheese business was acquired from Vika BV, and contributed CHF13.5m ($13.9m) to Givaudan’s Flavour Division sales in 2019. The terms of the transaction, which Givaudan said has no material impact on the division, will not be disclosed.
“With the sale of our processed and grated cheese business we aim to strengthen the focus on our core business and continue to drive long-term shareholder value,” said Louie D’Amico, president flavor division, Givaudan.
“We truly appreciate the contributions of our processed and grated cheese business employees and look forward to working with the St. Paul team to ensure a successful handover.”
Dieter Kuijl, CEO of St. Paul Group, said, “We are delighted with this transaction as it represents an attractive opportunity to further build St Paul’s customer base in ready meals, snacks and processed food. In addition, St Paul will now also be able to offer a wider range of products and applications.”
Givaudan will retain the majority of the legacy Vika BV business acquired in 2017 and continue to offer cheese powder solutions as part of its natural dairy and savory product portfolio.
St. Paul Group’s Lokeren site in Belgium is the company’s main analog cheese production site, but since 2017 the Group’s headquarters as well as its warehousing, grating and cheese cleaning activities moved to its new location in St Jansteen, the Netherlands.
