Bright outlook puts Irish food firms in expansionist mood

AGGRESSIVE strategies for securing scarce future supplies of food raw materials are being followed by major global companies in the food chain.

As a result, Irish companies, even those as successful as Kerry Group, can become potentially attractive takeover targets, even more so after Kerry Co-op’s ownership of shares in the group has fallen to only 10%.

Meanwhile, Kerry Group itself is in an aggressive expansionist mood, with up to €400 million available for buying companies before the end of this year. Within days of chief executive Stan McCarthy outlining the group’s worldwide growth, at the ASA conference, Kerry announced agreement to acquire SuCrest GmbH, a European ingredients and flavours business with annual revenue of €50m.