Hochdorf expands in children’s nutrition with Snapz acquisition
Swiss food group Hochdorf is growing its cereals and ingredients business and expanding its presence in children’s nutrition through the acquisition of Zifru Trockenprodukte and the Snapz brand.
The move builds on Hochdorf’s “cornerstone” strategy to focus on the development and marketing of new products with "high added value”.
The company said that the acquisitions of Zifru and the Snapz brand, which is present in Europe and North America, serves to “strengthen” its cereal ingredients business in the area of “healthy children’s nutrition”. Snapz products include a variety of organic dried fruit crisps as well as natural cheese puffs.
Hochdorf’s cereals and ingredients business is already active in the development and sale of products that deliver healthy nutrition for kids.
“With the takeover of the production company Zifru Trockenprodukte, [the unit] will extend its product range to include dried vegetables and fruit. Zifru products have been commercialised for several years in Europe and the USA under the Snapz brand,” the company noted.
Zifru’s production plant in Zittau will be expanded with additional technologies to enable it to offer a comprehensive kids’ food range to the global marketplace, Hochdorf revealed.
“We have been able to obtain purchasing, production and marketing experience with the acquisition of Zifru and the Snapz brand,” explained Michael Burla, managing director of cereals and ingredients.
Burla expressed confidence that the integration of Zifru and the Snapz brand will provide an “optimal foundation” for producing and marketing healthy children’s snacks.
The acquisition closed at the end of last month. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price but MainFirst analyst Alain Oberhuber estimated that the deal was worth around CHF8m (€6.9m), with sales of the snack business standing at around CHF5m (€4.3m).
“Although total acquired sales are just 1% of group revenues, the purchase represents around 15% of sales of its cereal and ingredients division,” Oberhuber noted.
