Louis Dreyfus Company to acquire soluble coffee business Cacique

Cacique is the largest exporter of soluble coffee in Brazil with 1,000 employees and two production plants: supplying both the domestic market and exporting to more than 70 countries.

Rotterdam-headquartered Louis Dreyfus is a global merchant and processor of agricultural goods: spanning a broad range of businesses from coffee to cotton, feed, freight, grains and oilseeds, rice, juice and sugar.

One area of particular focus is scaling-up its soluble coffee business: with the company outlining its ambitions to become one of the world’s largest soluble coffee producers. A joint venture with Poland private label coffee company Instanta saw the opening of a freeze-dried instant coffee facility in Vietnam last year,​ with annual production capacity of 5,600 metric tons of freeze-dried instant coffee.

Brazil is by far the world's largest producer of coffee.

“This acquisition [of Cacique] will further expand LDC’s business in Brazil, where the Group has been active for over 80 years, complementing our existing green coffee merchandizing operations in the country,” said Ben Clarkson, LDC’s Global Head of Coffee. “With its in-depth market knowledge and recognized brand in the industry, Cacique’s highly complementary profile will strengthen and consolidate LDC’s soluble coffee activities.”

The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.