The business has nearly $300 million in annual sales.
With this deal, ConAgra is expanding in a category that has had rough going recently. Consumers have shown they are particularly sensitive to higher prices on frozen meals, causing them to buy fewer of them. According to Nielsen, frozen-food sales were up two percent for the 52-week period ended April 14, but the number of items was down two percent during that same time.
The soft market has caused H.J. Heinz to discontinue its T.G.I. Friday's line of frozen single-serve entrees and multiserve meals recently, as the business was losing money. ConAgra's Banquet line of frozen meals also saw a steep decline in sales volume after ConAgra increased prices above the $1 level, a barrier that was hard to cross for bargain seekers that tend to buy the brand.
Andre Hawaux, president of ConAgra's consumer-foods business, said during an interview Monday that Bertolli and P.F. Chang's add two higher-priced brands to ConAgra's frozen-food portfolio, which already includes names like Marie Callender's, Healthy Choice and Kid Cuisine. While declining to provide details on performance of Unilever's frozen-foods business, Hawaux said some of Bertolli's new products, such as baked stuffed shells, didn't perform well and were discontinued, but its core business is otherwise stable.
The sale is part of Unilever's plan to get out of the frozen-foods business. The global consumer-product giant has already exited the business in Europe. The deal includes a
license for the Bertolli brand name and the transfer of Unilever's existing license with the P.F. Chang's restaurant chain for use of its name. Unilever will continue to own the
Bertolli trademark and will operate its existing pasta-sauce business. The deal doesn't include Unilever's production facility in Owensboro, Kentuck, where Bertolli and P.F. Chang's frozen meals are currently made, although manufacturing equipment will be relocated to an existing ConAgra facility.
