Lantmännen Unibake has acquired the production assets from French Bakery Company AS, a Norwegian bakery located close to Drammen. The acquisition is a key step to provide sustainable products and bakery solutions in Norway and to meet consumer demand for locally produced bakery products, notes Lantmännen.
The acquisition includes the take-over of French Bakery Company’s production equipment and employees and it strengthens Lantmännen Unibake’s unique position in Norway. It will provide opportunitieexpansion with new products for foodservice and retail.
The deal also enables insourcing to Lantmännen Unibake’s local bakeries and supports the international bakery group’s focus on core markets and sustainable production.
“French Bakery Company is a modern bakery with high bake-off expertise and quality standards. Geographically, the bakery is well-positioned for our current Norwegian operations and fits into our strategy and ambition. Building on our focus on sustainability from field to fork, locally produced bakery products and short time-to-market, we believe there is a very good potential to grow the business further and continue to deliver great results,” says Werner Devinck, CEO of Lantmännen Unibake.
“Lantmännen Unibake Norway sees strong growth potential for bake-off products in Norway and our focus is to meet the needs of our foodservice and retail customers. With increased flexibility, tailor-made and locally produced products, the acquisition will expand our current offer. It enables our business to strengthen our sustainability efforts through locally sourced raw materials and locally produced products, while also supporting our target to reduce the CO2 footprint through shorter transportation distances,” adds Thomas Bjarkholm, Managing Director of Lantmännen Unibake Norway.
Capitalizing on the plant-based trend
The bakery sector is well positioned to benefit from the plant-based trend due to the inherently vegan nature of many breads. During Anuga 2019, Chris Houston, from Lantmännen, explained how the company’s range of products also appeals to the broad spectrum of Millennials, many of whom are polarized to either seek healthier foods or increasingly indulgent offerings. Urbanization has also led to more people to eat on the go, meaning that meals have been altered to take a more convenient form.
Earlier this year, the Sustainable Brand Index (SBI) survey revealed that Lantmännen is seen as the second most sustainable food brand by Swedish consumers. In the overall index including all categories in the survey, Lantmännen ranks sixth. Lantmännen also ranked the number one brand on the Swedish market in the B2B for 2019, which was published earlier this year.
