Mondelez International snaps up UK sports-nutrition firm Grenade

US snacks giant Mondelez International has acquired UK sports-nutrition business Grenade.

Mondelez has acquired a "significant majority interest" in Grenade from UK-based private equity firm Lion Capital.

The deal, the first acquisition in the UK by Mondelez since it bought chocolate maker Cadbury in 2010, has been valued at around £200m ($277.2m) by UK media outlets, quoting unnamed people close to the deal. This figure has not been confirmed by Mondelez.

Grenade, based in Solihull in the English Midlands, produces a range of products touted as better-for-you, including high-protein, low-sugar bars, shakes, and drinks aimed at, but not exclusively for, the physically active.

In announcing the deal, Chicago-based Mondelez said that it "enables expansion in broader snacking and fast-growing well-being segments".

Grenade was founded by married couple Alan and Juliet Barratt in 2010. Lion bought it from fellow private equity firm Grovepoint in 2017 for £72m.

The Barratts, who will retain a "minority equity interest" in the business, will continue to run it under the ownership of Mondelez.

Mondelez said that it plans to operate Grenade separately to "nurture its entrepreneurial spirit and maintain the authenticity of the brand, while providing resources, support and international scale to help accelerate growth".

Meat giant JBS 'fined over Covid-19 outbreak'

Brazilian meat giant JBS has reportedly been ordered to pay a fine by a local court in respect to damages related to employees following a Covid-19 outbreak at its beef plant in São Miguel do Guaporé in the country's Rondonia state.

The fine amounts to BRL20m ($3.6m), Reuters reported having seen the court documents late last week.

The news agency quoted comments from labour prosecutor Priscila Schvarcz, who said that "the damages ruling was related to workers' contamination in São Miguel do Guaporé...and marks the first victory for the plaintiffs since labour prosecutors started suing the company last year over a lack of adequate health protocols".

According to Reuters, the plant was said to be the main source of a Covid-19 outbreak last May when the facility was ordered closed by a local judge.

It is not the first time JBS was ordered to close a plant because of coronavirus. Last year, the company was instructed to shutter a site in Passo Fundo in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul and another in Ipumirim in the state of Santa Catarina.

In the ruling dated 14 March, Labour Judge Edilson Cortez ordered JBS to pay damages and an additional BRL20,000 to cover costs related to the proceedings, Reuters said, adding that the company declined to say whether it would appeal the decision. 

Lactalis in negotiations to purchase cheese brand Leerdammer from Bel

Lactalis Group has initiated exclusive negotiations with French cheese company Bel Group to acquire its Leerdammer brand and related rights.

The two companies have signed a ‘unilateral promise’ to acquire a business.

Lactalis is looking to acquire the Leerdammer brand, plus assets in four countries, including Royal Bel Leerdammer, Bel Italia, Bel Deutschland, and Bel Shostka Ukraine using its 1,591,472 shares (23.16%) in Bel Group.

Bel Group chairman and CEO Antoine Fievet said: “In line with our strategic priorities, we continue to grow our business and take on three further market segments, namely dairy, fruit, and plant-based, and so reinforce our healthy snacking major player position.

“With this asset sale deal, we reaffirm our independent family business model that gives us the freedom to take a long-term view. For Leerdammer, this deal means a unique chance to have the backing of Lactalis, dairy products world #1, which will have the wherewithal to support it for its upcoming challenges.

“We’re proud to have supported it with tremendous success over close on 20 years. I’d like today to thank all Leerdammer and Bel Shostka Ukraine people for their outstanding work and commitment.”

Upon completion of the deal, Lactalis will hold a 0.90% stake in Bel.

Lactalis Group chairman Emmanuel Besnier said: “We welcome Leerdammer and we’re excited by the prospect of building on the growth of this iconic brand that people adore. This deal gives us an opening into the Dutch cheese market and production in Holland via three manufacturing plants."

Fonterra plans to divest JV farms in China

New Zealand-based dairy co-operative Fonterra has decided to offload its joint venture (JV) farms in China, as well as its remaining stake in Chinese baby food manufacturer Beingmate Baby & Child Food Company.

According to the company, the move is part of its continuous asset portfolio review process.

Fonterra first announced plans to divest its stake in Beingmate in August 2019.

As of 31 January, Fonterra held a 3.94% stake in Beingmate and it now holds a 2.82% stake in the Chinese firm.

The company said that it will continue to sell down its remaining stake and plans to divest the entire shareholding in the company before the end of this financial year.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell said: “We expect the sales of our farms to be completed this financial year and the sale of the JV farms to be completed this calendar year.”

Hurrell explained that the decision to divest Chinese JV farms is in line with the cooperatives strategy to focus on New Zealand milk.

Fonterra made these announcements in its 2021 interim results, which showed that the co-operative had a positive first half, resulting in a total group normalised EBIT of $684m.

Hurrell added: “As shown through our results today, Greater China continues to be one of our most important strategic markets.

“We remain committed to growing the value of our Greater China business, which we’ll do by bringing the goodness of New Zealand milk to Chinese customers in innovative ways and partnering with local Chinese companies to do so.”

Ireland records massive post-Brexit drop in Great Britain food imports

Newly-released figures from Ireland's statistics authority have revealed that food imports from the UK mainland, excluding Northern Ireland, were down by 75% in January, the first month in which trading was carried out under new post-Brexit rules.

Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) revealed that imports of food and live animals from Great Britain were down €62m ($73.9m) in January, a fall of 75% year-on-year.

Exports of food and live animals to Great Britain were also hit, falling by one-third to €188m.

UK and Irish food companies, agri-food businesses, and hauliers carrying their produce have complained about the need for additional pre-export preparation - especially around the shipping of live animals - and more paperwork at customs points since 1 January when the UK left the EU and frictionless trade ended between it and EU member states, including Ireland.

Orla McCarthy, senior statistician at the CSO, said: "Traders reported that a combination of factors contributed to the large reduction in imports from Great Britain in January 2021. These included the challenges of complying with customs requirements. 

"Other factors identified by traders were stockpiling of goods in Q4, 2020 in preparation for Brexit, substitution with goods from other countries, and a reduction in trade volumes due to the impact of Covid-19 related restrictions throughout January."

Investment in alt-protein food firms "reached record level in 2020"

New research has revealed some $3.1bn was invested in alternative-protein food businesses globally in 2020, a new record.

The figure is three times the $1bn capital invested in this category in 2019 and four and a half times as much as the $694m raised in 2018

The data released by the Washington DC-based Good Food Institute (GFI) – a non-profit organisation that promotes plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy, and eggs, as well as cultivated meat – suggests, it says, "growing momentum for sustainable alternatives".
 
GFI added: "Amid the multiple social, environmental, and economic crises of 2020, the increase also signals a growing appetite for climate-friendly investments with returns beyond the bottom line."  

The analysis claims to show that alternative protein companies have raised nearly $6bn in invested capital in the past decade, with more than half of it being pumped in in 2020.

Of the money raised last year, plant-based meat, egg, and dairy companies received $2.1bn in investments, including Impossible Foods' record $700m funding haul, which comprised a $500m Series F in March and a $200m Series G in August.

Other notable investments include The Livekindly Collective's $335m venture-capital funding, Oatly's $200m private-equity and $78m debt financing, and Califia Farms' $225m from private-equity. 

Cultivated – or cell-based – meat companies, which produce meat in a lab without harming animals, received more than $360m in investments in 2020, which is six times the amount raised in 2019.

This included the first two Series B rounds in the nascent industry: Memphis Meats' $161m round and Mosa Meat's $75m round.

Fermentation companies devoted to alternative proteins received $590m in investments in 2020, which is more than double the amount raised in 2019. This included Perfect Day's $300m Series C funding round.

GFI senior investor engagement specialist Sharyn Murray said: "The investor community is waking up to the massive social and economic potential of food technology to radically remake our food system."