B&G, FERRERO, HOSTESS EYEING ON KELLOGG’S KEEBLER AND FAMOUS AMOS COOKIE BUSINESS
- Published | 23 January 2019
Hostess Brands, B&G Foods, and Ferrero have placed preliminary bids of more than $1.5 billion on Kellogg's Keebler, Famous Amos, and fruit snacks businesses which will drive the biscuits market.
United States: B&G foods, Hostess Brands, and Nutella-owner Ferrero have placed first-round bids on Kellogg’s Keebler, Famous Amos, and fruit snacks businesses. The deal includes Keebler Famous Amos, Murray and Mother’s cookies and Stretch Island fruit snacks could be valued at more than $1.5 billion.
Steven A. Cahillane, chairman, and CEO of Kellogg, said: “We need to make strategic choices about our business, and these brands have had difficulty competing for resources and investments within our portfolio”. The sale comes as Kellogg competitor, Campbell Soup, is selling its own cookie brands, Australia-based Arnott’s. The soup company’s cookie business has also attracted Ferrero, as well as Mondelez and Kraft Heinz.
Italy-based Ferrero has been aggressive in using acquisitions to grow its global footprint over the past two years. In 2017, it paid roughly $1 billion to buy Ferrara Candy Company, giving it infrastructure and a platform to grow in the U.S. It later bought Nestle’s U.S. candy business for $2.8 billion, adding to its portfolio brands like BabyRuth and Butterfinger.
Hostess has been eyeing deals to broaden its treats beyond Twinkies and Ho-Hos. Executive Chairman Dean Metropoulos said the company has “looked at every snack acquisition that has been announced in 2017-2018. The Twinkie-owner last year bought breakfast brands the Big Texas and Cloverhill from Aryzta.
B&G, meantime, has bought a number of discarded brands from the country’s largest food companies, looking to revive neglected brands with new investment. The owner of Cream of Wheat bought Green Giant from General Mills for $765 million in 2015 and McCann’s Irish oatmeal from TreeHouse Foods for $32 million last year.
According to Rishi Mallarh, analyst at BlueWeave Consulting, Bakery Industry is one of the largest segments of the food processing industry. The availability of innovative bakery products containing multi-grains and whole wheat with low trans-fat and calorie content has further facilitated their consumption. Moreover, the consumers are more conscious than ever before and the movement toward healthy eating habits is one of the greatest influencers of the Bakery Products industry.
According to the upcoming report by BlueWeave Consulting on “Global Biscuits Market By Product Type (Sweet Biscuits, Savory, Crackers, Filled/Coated, and Wafers), By Ingredients (Wheat, Oats, and Millets), By Flavor Type (Plain, Chocolate, Sour Cream, Cheese, and Spiced, and Fruits and Nuts),By Sales Channel (Supermarket/Hypermarket, Convenience Store & Others), by Region ((North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America)), Size and Forecast, 2014-2025,” Global Biscuits Product market is projected to grow with a significant growth rate during the forecast period 2018-2025 due to the innovative packaging, new flavors, shapes, technological advancement. Biscuits are one of the most important snacks used in an average household. The major factors driving the growth of the biscuits market are the increasing preference for convenience and snacking, rising demand for healthy snacks and the augment in the per capita food consumption in emerging countries.
According to recent published report by BlueWeave Consulting on “India Bakery Products Market, By Product Type (Biscuits, Cakes & Pastries, Bread & Rolls, Rusks and others), By Biscuits Type (Cookies, Cream Biscuits, Milk Biscuits, Glucose Biscuits, Marie biscuits, Salt Crackers Biscuits, Non-Salt Crackers Biscuits and others), By Distribution Channel(Retail Stores, Specialty Retailers and Online Distributors), By Region(North, South, East and West), Size and Forecast, 2014-2025,” India Bakery Products market is expected to grow with a significant growth rate during the forecast period 2018-2025 owing to their pleasant taste and health-benefits as they are made from a variety of grains like maize, wheat, and oats. India is the second largest producer of biscuits (cookies) in the world after the USA. Bakery industry is one of the oldest businesses in India, which is modernizing and is constantly changing in terms of product range and services due to the high nutrient value and affordability bakery products will drive the bakery market over the forecasted period.