Premier Foods today said it has agreed to acquire Merchant Gourmet, a premium, healthy, convenient meals brand, for £48 million ($56 million) in cash. Both are UK companies.
Merchant Gourmet has sales of £28million ($33 million) and exhibits strong double-digit growth over past two years, according to the announcement. The company specializes in branded ready-to-eat and microwavable meals, many in pouches, based on pulses, grains and rice.
As such, Merchant Gourmet complements Premier Foods’ portfolio of 19 brands, most of them acquired in the baking, sauces and quick meals categories.
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.
