Chaucer acquired by Japanese firm in £95M deal

By Gwen Ridler

- Last updated on GMT

Food ingredients firm Chaucer has been acquired by Japanese company Nagatanien. Image courtesy of Flickr user Cassidy
Food ingredients firm Chaucer has been acquired by Japanese company Nagatanien. Image courtesy of Flickr user Cassidy

Related tags Nutrition

Food ingredients manufacturer Chaucer has been acquired by a Japanese instant food producer and distributor, in a deal worth more than $120M (£95.4M).

The deal with Nagatanien will allow Chaucer to expand into new and existing global markets, according to the company.

The Tokyo-based firm produces instant and freeze-dried Japanese food, including sushi seasoning, fried rice and noodles.

The acquisition also opens opportunities for Nagatanien to expand into the UK market and gain access to clean-label products.

Chaucer’s current management team will be retained and ceo Andy Ducker will continue to lead the group.

Continue to lead

Ducker commented: “[Nagatanien] are a longstanding business and the leading brand in the Japanese market for premixed, instant and freeze-dried food.

“From inception, Nagatanien’s corporate philosophy … is perfectly aligned with our own attitude of producing healthy ingredients to meet the growing trend towards healthy eating and nutrition.

Ducker said he anticipated there would be cross-selling and growth opportunities for both parties and looked forward to working with the Nagatanien team.

The deal comes after Chaucer posted a 17% increase in sales and 20% growth in profits over the past year to October, driven by expansion into the US.

New product innovation

The Hull-­based firm said new product innovation in its freeze-­dried produce offering helped build new contracts in Europe and Asia with a number of food and beverage companies, while its bread division also had a strong year.

Chaucer produces ingredients for food manufacturers globally, including Kellogg, Nestlé and Unilever.

Meanwhile, the sale of a West Midlands bacon producer has saved the jobs of 13 employees, after the company entered liquidation last month (November 25) – partly due to rising costs caused by the UK’s Brexit vote.

“The business was struggling, partly because of Brexit as it saw an increase of 20% in importing pricing and we were called in to liquidate the company,”​ said CVR Global partner Craig Povey, who acted as liquidator.

Related news

Show more

Follow us

Featured Jobs

View more

Webinars

PRODUCTS & SERVICES