Food and Drink Industry 25 – 31 May: Ft Associated British Foods, Ella’s Kitchen and Arla Foods
- Associated British Foods has acquired New Zealand bakery brand Abe’s Bagels through George Weston Foods.
- Ella’s Kitchen has moved beyond traditional baby food with a new toddler-focused snack range.
- Arla Foods has strengthened its Australian dairy position with the acquisition of Brancourts.
Major Food Groups Continue to Chase Category Leadership
The food industry is seeing another wave of strategic movement, with Associated British Foods, Ella’s Kitchen and Arla Foods all making plays that point to a broader shift in how major food businesses are thinking about growth.
Rather than simply adding more products to existing shelves, each company is moving with a clear category strategy.
ABF is strengthening its bakery presence in Australia and New Zealand. Ella’s Kitchen is extending its brand into older children’s snacks. Arla Foods is deepening its dairy footprint in Australia through local production and a fast-growing cottage cheese category.
Together, the announcements show how food companies are leaning into scale, trust, convenience and changing consumer behaviour.
In a market where families want healthier choices, retailers want reliable suppliers and global food groups want stronger local platforms, these moves are more than routine expansion. They show where the industry is heading.
Associated British Foods Acquires Abe’s Bagels Through George Weston Foods
Associated British Foods has bought New Zealand-based bakery firm Abe’s Bagels through its Australia and New Zealand business, George Weston Foods.
The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
George Weston Foods is based in Sydney and is one of the largest consumer goods businesses in the region. It currently operates across more than 60 locations and employs more than 60,000 people.
Its flagship brands include Tip Top, Top Taste and Abbott’s Bakery, giving ABF an already significant bakery and consumer goods platform across Australia and New Zealand.
Abe’s Bagels, founded in 1996, had previously been owned by private equity firms Marmont Capital and Altered Capital. The acquisition was confirmed in a LinkedIn post by the company’s general manager of sales and marketing, who described the deal as a proud moment for the team and a chance to reflect on the business’s recent growth.
Abe’s Bagels Growth Story Adds Weight to the Deal
The acquisition is particularly notable because Abe’s Bagels has not simply been standing still as a legacy bakery brand.
According to the company update, when the general manager joined the business three and a half years ago, Abe’s was generating approximately £14 million in revenue. Today, that figure has grown to more than £22 million.
That represents 56% growth for a brand that has been operating for nearly three decades. In a mature category such as bakery, that level of growth is significant. It suggests the brand has managed to stay relevant with consumers while also strengthening its retail and category position.
The update also stated that Abe’s has cemented its position as the clear market leader in bagels across Australia and New Zealand, holding 75% market share while helping to grow the wider category.
For ABF, that gives the business not just another bakery label, but a category-leading brand with proven momentum.
The move also comes as ABF’s prolonged takeover of British baking powerhouse Hovis continues to face review. Competition concerns remain around the Northern Irish market, meaning the Hovis process is still unresolved.
Against that backdrop, the Abe’s Bagels acquisition shows ABF continuing to pursue bakery growth through other regional opportunities.
Ella’s Kitchen Moves Beyond Baby Food with Toddler Snack Range
While ABF is expanding through acquisition, Ella’s Kitchen is moving into new territory through product development. The United Kingdom baby food brand has launched Ella’s Kitchen Kids, a new range created for children aged 18 months and above.
The range is designed for older infants and toddlers whose tastes, independence and daily routines are beginning to change. It marks a shift for a brand that has traditionally focused on weaning and baby food, opening the door to a broader presence in the children’s food category.
The new products include Crunchy Stix in Cheese & Onion, Tomato & Basil and Pesto flavours. The range also includes Wild Crackers in Tomato & Oregano, Pea & Basil and Carrot & Rosemary.
The products have been created to work as lunchbox fillers, picnic snacks or part of the increasingly familiar “picky plate” approach used by busy parents. In practical terms, Ella’s Kitchen is positioning the range around three important needs: enjoyment, nutrition and convenience.
Healthier Toddler Snacking Becomes a Clearer Battleground
One of the more important details behind the Ella’s Kitchen launch is the focus on salt and HFSS status. The Stix contain less than 0.04g of salt per pack, while the Crackers contain less than 0.05g per pack. Both are non-HFSS products.
That matters because toddler snacking is an area where parents often face difficult choices. Convenience snacks can be easy to serve, but many options aimed at young children are still compared with crisps, confectionery and highly processed products.
Ella’s Kitchen is clearly trying to offer an alternative that feels fun for children but more reassuring for parents.
The senior brand manager at Ella’s Kitchen said the brand recognises that the journey does not stop at baby food. As little ones grow, their tastes, independence and routines change, but parents still want options they can feel good about.
The company has framed the range as part of a wider ambition to raise standards in the kids’ food category, with more products expected to follow later this year across new categories.
This suggests Ella’s Kitchen Kids is not a one-off extension, but the beginning of a broader brand move.
Arla Foods Acquires Brancourts to Strengthen Australian Dairy Presence
Arla Foods has also made a significant acquisition, buying Australian dairy brand Brancourts to strengthen its position in the country. Brancourts manufactures cottage cheese, sour cream and sweetened condensed milk, and is based near Newcastle in New South Wales.
The company is one of Australia’s biggest cottage cheese brands, with products stocked in major grocery retailers including Woolworths and Coles. The deal will be executed through Arla Foods Mayer Australia, the joint venture between Arla Foods and Australian firm Mayers Fine Food.
Arla Foods said the acquisition will give it an established local production platform, supporting its long-term ambitions in one of the world’s most attractive dairy markets. The company expects the acquisition to come into effect within a few weeks, with no further transaction details being disclosed.
The move builds on Arla’s existing Australian presence. Through brands such as Lurpak and Castello, Arla has already secured strong positions in butter and cheese respectively.
Brancourts gives it a much firmer position in cottage cheese, a category currently experiencing rapid growth.
Cottage Cheese Growth Reflects Changing Consumer Priorities
Arla’s decision to enter the Australian cottage cheese space has been driven by strong category performance. The segment has seen more than 40% volume growth year on year, according to Arla.
That growth reflects changing consumer preferences around health, protein, versatility and everyday cooking. Cottage cheese has benefitted from renewed interest as a high-protein food that can be used in breakfasts, snacks, savoury meals, healthier recipes and everyday family cooking.
The executive vice-president of Arla International described Australia as a highly attractive market, citing its stable economy, high purchasing power, population growth, strong dairy traditions, high consumption and sophisticated retail environment.
They also pointed to the free trade agreements between the EU and Australia, and the UK and Australia, as factors that could create further opportunities in the years ahead.
Arla believes that by combining Brancourts’ local production capabilities with its own global category and innovation expertise, it can accelerate growth in the Australian cottage cheese market.
The general manager of Arla Foods Mayer Australia added that the conditions are firmly in place for continued growth at both category and consumer level.
Impact on Food Manufacturing and Food Production
For food manufacturing and production, these announcements highlight a clear industry direction: scale is important, but so is local relevance.
ABF’s acquisition of Abe’s Bagels shows the value of buying brands that already have strong market share, proven production capability and category credibility. Rather than building a bagel brand from scratch in Australia and New Zealand, ABF is acquiring a business that already leads the market.
Ella’s Kitchen, meanwhile, shows how manufacturers are having to think beyond traditional category boundaries. A baby food company is no longer limited to weaning pouches or early-stage meals. By moving into toddler snacks, it is responding to a wider parental need for convenient, healthier everyday options.
Arla’s acquisition of Brancourts underlines the importance of local manufacturing platforms in international growth. By buying an established Australian producer, Arla gains production capacity, retail access and category knowledge, while also bringing global innovation expertise into a fast-growing segment.
For producers, this points to a future where manufacturing strategies must be flexible, category-aware and closely tied to consumer behaviour. Health, convenience, protein, salt reduction, trusted branding and local supply capability are all becoming central to food production decisions.
A Final Word
The latest moves from Associated British Foods, Ella’s Kitchen and Arla Foods show a food industry that is still actively reshaping itself around growth opportunities.
ABF is strengthening its bakery footprint through a market-leading bagel brand with strong recent growth. Ella’s Kitchen is pushing beyond baby food into healthier toddler snacks for busy families. Arla Foods is using acquisition to deepen its Australian dairy presence in a fast-growing cottage cheese category.
Different companies, different markets and different product categories, but the same underlying message: food businesses are looking for stronger positions in categories where consumer habits are changing.
Whether through acquisition, innovation or local production, the winners will be the companies that understand not just what people are buying today, but how their eating habits, shopping routines and expectations are likely to evolve next.
News Credits:
ABF acquires leading New Zealand bagel brand
Ella’s Kitchen launches snacks for older toddlers
Arla Foods snaps up historic Australian cottage cheese firm
Vous aimerez peut-être aussi :