The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kerry take over faux meat firm
IN its fourth acquisition this year Tralee based multinational food and ingredients giant Kerry Group has taken over a Dutch substitute meat company, Ojah BV.
Ojah BV, which is controlled by a Belgian private equity firm, manufactures what is, according to its corporate website, “textured meat alternatives.”
These meat alternatives are products made from plant-based materials that are “rich in proteins, low in fat and salt, high in fibre” and in addition are free of cholesterol.
The company is controlled by Korys Fund Investments, the investment arm of the wealthy Colruyt family who are the founders of Belgium’s Colruyt discount supermarket chain.
The Kerry Group takeover of Ojah BV is understood to have been completed for under €20 million.
The acquisition marks the latest step in Kerry Group’s increasing involvement in the potentially highly lucrative and rapidly expanding plant-based protein sector, which is expected to reach a value of more than €13 billion a year in the next four years.
Kerry Group launched its plant-based ProDiem brand at the end of 2016 as food allergies, ecological concerns and a health and fitness driven global consumer backlash against salt, sugar and artificial ingredients continues to force a multibillion shift in consumption patterns and food production.
Ojah first launched its products in 2010, and by 2016 had rolled out a meat substitute under the Plenti brand in over 21 countries. According to its website the firm now produces 1,600 tons of Plenti per year.
Kerry Group has made close to €5billion worth of acquisitions since 2000.
The group is expected to ramp up this trend over the next 18 months with management recently pointing to €1billion worth of potential acquisition opportunities worldwide and particularly in the Asia pacific region.