Anglo-Dutch consumer products company Unilever said on Thursday that it plans to sell its Iberia Foods Corp., a food distributor for the Hispanic-American market, as part of an overall plan to divest certain brands and focus on its leading products. Iberia Foods has annual sales of more than $40 million and serves more than 3,000 supermarket chains, club stores, wholesalers and distributors throughout the U.S. east coast.It sells a mix of Iberia-branded products like rice, canned and bagged beans, olives, canned seafood and meats. In addition, Iberia distributes Unilever Bestfoods' Knorr and Maizena products from Latin America in the United States and has exclusive rights to distribute certain leading food and consumer goods brands from Puerto Rico, Spain, Colombia and Venezuela, the company said. Unilever acquired Iberia when it took over Bestfoods in October 2000, as part of its strategy to concentrate on its leading brands such as Ragu, Hellmann's and Lipton foods. Source: Reuters
