Acquisitions drive profits for Kerry

Handing over US$96m (€77.9m) for the two firms, the Irish food group says the acquisitions will fire it directly into the 'fast growing niches' of US branded beverages and drive the profits forward.

"With increasing demand for health-conscious, natural, lifestyle beverages, the addition of market leading brands is a further significant step in building Kerry's portfolio in the dynamic US foodservice and all natural beverage sectors,"​ said Hugh Friel, chief executive of the Kerry group.

Last month the Irish firm posted an operating profit for the year of €308.5m, up 7.6 per cent on 2002 levels, boosted by a drive into consumer nutrition and lifestyle products. The move this week demonstrates the company's continued strategy to spur growth through developments and acquisitions in the health products domain.

With the Oregon Chai purchase Kerry gains a leading position in both the natural and organic segments of the speciality Chai tea market. Extreme Foods provides Kerry with fat-free, fruit-based smoothies and coffee frappés marketed under the JetTea and JetCafe brand names.

These recent acquisitions stand next to a medley of purchases completed in 2003 when the Irish company bough ingredients companies Guernsey Bel, a Chicago-based supplier of ingredients for ice-cream and bakery industries, seasoning and spice company Pacific Seasonings, and Seattle-based supplier of branded flavoured syrups Da Vinci Gourmet.

Extending its North American reach in the highly competitive world of flavours the company also acquired SunPure, a producer of natural citrus flavours and ingredients based in Florida and Crystals International, a manufacturer of natural fruit and vegetable flavours.

Calming a concerned market over the sheer number of acquisitions, last month Kerry assured investors that in 2003 it had delivered more than €200 million in free cash flow.