NEWS | AFRICAN AFRICAN BRIEFS
Dunkin’ Donuts to enter South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA - Grand Parade Investments (GPI), which brought Burger King to South Africa in 2013, has announced it has signed a franchise agreement with Dunkin’ Brands to open as many as 250 Dunkin’ Donuts and 70 Baskin Robbins stores in South Africa. “At GPI, we work with world-class partners to develop brands that will resonate with South African consumers, which is why we’re thrilled to bring Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins to the market,” Hassen Adams, executive chairman at GPI. The agreement will see the introduction of Baskin Robbins ice cream products in supermarket chains and convenience stores in SA – BD Live
Innscor to acquire biscuits and snacks maker
ZIMBABWE – Innscor Africa is set to acquire a biscuits and snacks maker Breathaway Food Caterers and bundle it into its light manufacturing unit, reports The Herald The Herald quotes several people with the information who have confirmed that the business, which makes Zapnax snacks and Iris biscuits will be added into the National Foods business, further improving the capability of the light manufacturing unit. Innscor Africa last year unbundled its Quick Service Restaurants unit to a new business called Simbisa and also exited Spar retail stores, to provide extra value to its shareholders.
Guinness Ghana appoints Agbonlahor as new MD
GHANA - Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), Ghana’s leading beverage business and a Diageo affilliate has appointed Francis Agbonlahor as the new Managing Director. He has taken over from Peter Ndegwa who is now the Managing Director of Guinness Nigeria PLC. Prior to this role he was General Manager of Meta Abo Brewery, Diageo’s business in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for four years. He has extensive executive and board level experience, notes the company in a statement.
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MARCH 2016 | FOOD BUSINESS AFRICA
Olam buys cereals maker Amber Foods as it grows African processing footprint Company CEO says company is excited about Africa, and is focused on growing its branded products portfolio
AFRICA – Diversified commodity trader Olam International Limited has acquired Amber Foods Limited, a Nigerian miller and pasta producer for US$275 million. Amber Foods, through its 100% owned subsidiary Quintessential Foods Nigeria Limited owns the wheat milling and pasta manufacturing assets of the BUA Group in Nigeria. The BUA Group, a diversified foods and infrastructure business group in Nigeria, is among the top five wheat millers in the country with wheat milling and pasta manufacturing capacities of 3,760 and 700 metric tonnes per day (TPD) respectively. The assets to be acquired include two wheat mills and a pasta manufacturing facility in Lagos, a non-operating mill in Kano in the North of Nigeria, and a wheat mill and a pasta manufacturing plant under construction in Port Harcourt in the Southeast of Nigeria. Olam’s total wheat milling capacity in the country will increase from its current 2,380 TPD to 6,140 TPD once the facilities in Port Harcourt are completed in June 2016, the company noted in a statement. The acquisition will further build on Olam’s capacity in Africa, doubling its total wheat milling capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa to 7,640 tonnes per day, it adds. The company has grown in this platform since 2010 when it acquired Crown Flour Mills (CFM) in Nigeria. Since then, it has expanded its capacity at CFM in 2013 and set up milling operations in Ghana, Senegal and Cameroon. “Nigeria is a high growth milling market with volumes expected to reach 5 million metric tonnes in 2020 as population growth and urbanisation increase the demand for wheat-based products. The size of the Nigerian flour market is in excess of US$2.0
billion, growing at 3.5% per year while the pasta market is growing at the rate of 8.0% per year, the company reveals. Meanwhile, Olam is hunting for more investments in Africa as it looks to benefit from the continent’s increasing appetite for everything from instant noodles to lollipops, reports DealStreet Asia. Long endowed with rich agricultural resources including coffee and cocoa, Africa has a growing middle class that is now demanding more packaged food, according to Olam’s Chief Executive Officer Sunny Verghese. That’s presenting increased opportunities for investment in branded foods, he said. “The risks are slightly higher, but the rewards are better,” Verghese said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur. “It’s a good bet to make.” One of Olam’s key bets in the continent is on branded food, driven by Verghese’s prediction that Africa’s working-age population will overtake China’s in 20 years. Present in 24 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the agribusiness giant is looking to expand its market share across the continent. Olam’s sales from Africa climbed to US$3 billion in 2014 from US$1.25 billion in 2010. Its packaged food operations in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, now have sales of $350 million to $400 million a year from nothing in 2005, when they were started. “Africa in some of these markets is at the cusp of convenience foods,” Verghese said. The rising number of dual-income families where both the husband and wife work is transforming food habits, he said. “Convenience foods for on- the-go consumption (are) increasing. Noodles and pasta are two very good categories where we’ve seen very high growth,” he said. FOODBUSINESSAFRICA.COM