Givaudan sells Dutch cheese unit: ‘We aim to strengthen the focus on our core’

The transaction will see the Swiss company transfer its processed and grated cheese business to St. Paul Group, a cheese specialist with premises in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The processed and grated cheese business contributed CHF13.5m (€12.5m) to Givaudan’s flavour division sales in 2019. Overall, flavour division sales totalled CHF3.4bn in fiscal 2019, a year-on-year increase of 4.5% on a like-for-like basis.

The unit was acquired as part of Givaudan’s 2017 purchase of Vika. The terms of the transaction, which Givaudan said has no material impact on the flavour division, were not disclosed.

Louie D’Amico, the president of Givaudan’s flavour division, said the move would allow the flavour and fragrance company to focus on growing its core business.

“With the sale of our processed and grated cheese business we aim to strengthen the focus on our core business and continue to drive long-term shareholder value,”​ he said.

“We truly appreciate the contributions of our processed and grated cheese business employees and look forward to working with the St. Paul team to ensure a successful handover.”​

Givaudan will retain the majority of the legacy Vika BV business and continue to offer cheese powder solutions, vegetable and meat fonds and stocks as part of its natural dairy and savoury product portfolio.

St. Paul Group: Creating a ‘leading player’ in cheese solutions

For its part, St. Paul Group said the deal represents a ‘successful extension’ of its customer base in ready meals, snacks and processed food. In addition, St. Paul will now also be able to offer an extended range of product formats in grated cheese and air-dried cheese, the company noted.

“We are delighted with this transaction as it represents an attractive opportunity to further build St Paul’s customer base in ready meals, snacks and processed food. In addition, St Paul will now also be able to offer a wider range of products and applications,”​ Dieter Kuijl, CEO of St. Paul Group, said.

St. Paul Group is a medium-sized family owned company with sales just above € 50m. The company supplies cheese, analogue and vegan solutions for the food industry.

The combination of St. Paul and Givaudan’s former cheese activities will strengthen St. Paul’s position as ‘a strong and leading player’ in cheese solutions, offering a wide range of cheese-based, analogue and vegan product formats for global customers, the company claimed.

Oghma Partners acted as corporate finance advisor to Givaudan on the divestment.