Japan's Kagome Corp. has entered into an agreement to buy Preferred Brands International, a U.S.-based natural and ethnic food group, according to just-food.com.
The acquisition sees Kagome enter the U.S. consumer foods area and the company flagged the fast growth of ethnic food sales in the market, which generated sales of $3.4 billion in 2013. According to Kagome, PBI has a 61 percent share of the U.S. ethnic convenience food sales, according to the Kagome announcement.
"PBI and Kagome will conduct joint development of enticing food products, utilizing to the fullest the vegetable food products, beverages and other owned resources, on a foundation of nature and health," Kagome said. "PBI’s high level of marketing strength and the expansive U.S. sales network will be utilized to give these products increased added value, in addition to the growth of existing business."
In addition to U.S. expansion, the company expects to grow in the Indian foodservice sector, where PBI supplies restaurant chains with products including frozen vegetable pies and patties, pasta sauce, and tomato ketchup.
Kagome has focused on strengthening its foodservice business which supplies tomato products to global restaurant chains, focusing mainly on the U.S., Portugal and Australia. In 2013, Kagome established a joint venture with Indian food manufacturer Ruchi Soya Industries and Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co.
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