The sale will allow the group, through its Freedom Foods subsidiary, to increase its share of the country's burgeoning market for special dietary foods in particular.

Wellness products are becoming increasingly important to processors, who are keen to capitalise on more health conscious consumers in the region.

Rory J F Macleod, development director for the group told AP-Foodtechnology.com that the purchase would allow Freedom Foods greater diversity in meeting the specific health requirements of its consumers.

"The gluten and wheat free markets are experiencing strong growth in Australia and internationally," he said.

"Our strategy is to continue to build our proprietary brand position through product innovation and new category development."

As a result, Freedom foods expect to be the sole producer in the country dedicated to scaleable gluten and wheat free products, to consolidate its position as a health snack maker.

According to a report last year by market analysts Leatherhead, healthier snack ranges like Cereal bars are seeing a massive increase in sales.

Through marketing of the segments "healthy" image, sales of cereal bars in Australia, the US, Japan, and Europe's five largest countries alone are expected to reach €2.38bn in 2010, from €1.8bn in 2005.

In considering this, Leatherhead expects health to be the biggest driver of snack demand in the coming years.

"A key focus for new product development at present is that of healthier cereal bars including low and light products and those containing functional ingredients; a diverse range of ingredients is being used," stated the report.

"Competitive advantage is crucial in this marketplace and recent launches suggest that the current means to this end is by the provision of healthier products."