Unilever Selling 2 Small European Brands to Zwanenberg Food Group

Dec. 21, 2024

Disposal of Unox and Zwan brands are part of new Unilever focus on fewer but bigger brands.

Unilever on Dec. 18 said it was selling two European food brands it has owned for nearly 100 years, but which no longer fit its strategic focus.

Unilever has an offer from Zwanenberg Food Group of the Netherlands to acquire the Unox and Zwan brands, both involving meat and soup products. The Belgian Zwan brand has been owned by Unilever or predecessor companies since 1928, the Dutch brand Unox since 1937. The deal includes a soup production plant in Poznan, Poland.

“The meat and soup products of Unox and Zwan require a distinct supply chain, sourcing model and set of technological and R&D capabilities, making them less scalable within the broader Unilever Foods portfolio,” the company announcement said. However, "Unox’s Noodles and Cup-a-Soup products are a good fit with the mini meals category and will therefore remain part of the total Unilever Foods portfolio.”

Unilever is looking to sharpen its foods portfolio for long-term growth and scalability, focusing on fewer and bigger brands, in categories such as cooking aids, mini meals and condiments. At its late-November investor event, executives noted plans continue for the planned spinoff of the ice cream business but also the disposal of more than $1 billion in small brands and products in the next 12-24 months.

Zwanenberg Food Group, based in Almelo, Netherlands, dates back to 1929 under the name Van der Laan. It’s owned the brand names Zwanenberg and Zwan since 1996, and bought a Unilever factory in Oss, Netherlands, in 2018. It established a U.S. meat tinning plant in Cincinnati in 2005. In 2007, the American food preservation activities of Tyson were taken over, and in 2011 it added Vietti Foods in Nashville, Tenn.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.