Baker & Baker says that its acquisition of North Lanarkshire-based Lazy Day Foods will help expand its presence in the fast-growing specialised free-from baked goods segment.
Founded in 2006 as a fully free-from bakery manufacturer, the Scottish firm’s products do not contain gluten, milk, eggs or nuts.
Over the last 20 years, the business has grown to become one of the UK’s more prominent specialist free-from bakeries and was able to move into a purpose-built facility in Harthill in 2017.
Its acquisition by Wirral-based Baker & Baker will help extend its product offering and brand visibility into international markets. It already provides branded and private-label products to the UK’s largest retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose.
Lazy Day Foods currently employs around 190 staff at the Harthill site, where it manufactures approximately 75 permanent and seasonal product lines for mainly UK retail and foodservice customers.
The Lazy Day Foods consumer-facing brand will be retained despite its absorption into the Baker & Baker group, with the company saying the brand will be “proactively marketed” to Baker & Baker’s existing UK and international customer base.
Matthew Acheson, CEO of Baker & Baker, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Lazy Day Foods into the Baker & Baker family.
“We have strong expertise in gluten-free bakery via our Ashington site, and this acquisition supports our expansion into the adjacent category of ‘free-from’, which represents an exciting area of growth.”
He continued: “We believe that our scale and broad customer relationships will accelerate the growth of Lazy Day Foods, while Lazy Day Foods’ deep experience and expertise will further enhance our capabilities and category offering.
“We’re firmly committed to maintaining the operation and employee base at the Lazy Day Foods site in Harthill, and we expect to see the business continue to flourish. We’re excited about the growth possibilities over the coming years.”
Upon completion of the purchase, Baker & Baker will have expanded its UK manufacturing footprint to five sites, including its first in Scotland, while increasing its overall workforce to 2,650 people.
This latest deal marks Baker & Baker’s second acquisition since becoming a standalone bakery products business, following the acquisition of its Pastel de Nata facility in Peniche, Portugal, in 2022.
Lazy Day Foods shareholders David Kilshaw, chairman, and joint managing directors Emer Bustard and Dr Sally Beattie commented: “We are immensely proud of what Lazy Day Foods has become since it was founded in 2006. Our mission has always been to make great-tasting free-from and vegan treats so that no one missed out on the joys of everyday life. We’d like to thank our fantastic team in Harthill, and our customers and suppliers, for their support over the years.
“In Baker & Baker, we have found the ideal owner to take the business forward. They have the scale, expertise and international reach to bring Lazy Day to many more free-from shoppers.
They added: “We are delighted that the Lazy Day brand and our Harthill site will be at the heart of Baker & Baker’s free-from growth plans, and we’re confident the business and its people have a very bright future ahead.”
