Northern Foods said today (11 January) that its acquisition of a soup manufacturing plant from Baxters Food Group would improve its production footprint in the UK.
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A spokesperson for Northern Foods, which has agreed to buy the Baxters site in Grimsby for an undisclosed sum, said the acquisition would allow the company to focus on ready meals production at a second site in Grantham.
“We currently have a site in Grantham that produces ready meal pasta and soup but which is very capacity-constrained,” the spokesperson told just-food. “With this acquisition, we will be able to move the soup production to Grimsby and focus on pasta at Grantham.”
According to Nielsen, UK soup sales stand at around GBP115m (US$225m) and are growing at 10% a year, the spokesperson said.
Northern Foods, which makes retail-brand soups for Marks & Spencer, has about 10% of that market, she added.
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By GlobalDataNorthern Foods has agreed to take on the 48 workers at the former Baxters site.
A spokesman for Baxters said the sale is part of the company’s strategy to move away from chilled soup production in the UK.
“It’s a logical move for Northern Foods but Baxters is heading off in another direction,” the spokesman said.
