Cosun cosolidates bakery ingredients operations

An agreement has been reached to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of Mundipam Produtos Alimentares, a Portuguese producer of pastry and bakery ingredients.

The transaction will take effect on 31 May 2006.

The acquisition is part of Unifine's ambition of becoming one of the top three suppliers of fine bakery ingredients in Europe. The move will certainly reinforce and consolidate the firm's position in the Iberian market, and help it to expand in the south.

Mundipam was established in Palmela, south of Lisbon. The company realises an annual turnover of € 3.5 million and has a staff of 14.

The production facility measures some 5,000 m2. The main products are in powder form for the fine bakery market, such as pastry mixes and custard cremes.

Royal Cosun reported a consolidated net turnover of € 1,339 million last year. The group's compound ingredients activities turned in the same result as in 2004, though Unifine Food & Bake Ingredients achieved wider margins and growth in central and eastern Europe.

The company will therefore be hoping that this recent acquisition will see similar results achieved in southern Europe.

Royal Cosun is an international group that develops, produces and sells natural foodstuffs and ingredients. Cosun carries a broad and versatile range of products, from sugar, fructose & inulin, alcohol and potato specialities to compound ingredients for use in snacks, bakery products, dairy products, soft drinks and the foodservice sector.

The group was established more than one hundred years ago when Dutch sugar beet farmers set up their own cooperative that now counts about 10,500 member shareholders.