Flora Food Group
| File:Flora Food Group.png | |
| Formerly | Upfield B.V. (2018–2024) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Consumer goods |
| Predecessors |
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| Founded | 2018 (by spin-off) |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | , Netherlands |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | David Haines (CEO) |
| Products | Margarines, spreads |
| Owner | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts |
| Website | florafoodgroup |
Flora Food Group B.V. is a Netherlands-based food enterprise managing a portfolio of margarine, spreads, and plant-based food brands such as Flora and Blue Band. It positions itself as the leading global plant-based consumer packaged goods company, with operations spanning 95 countries.
Originally established in 2018 as Upfield through a corporate spin-off from Unilever, the company was acquired by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) for US$8.04 billion.
History
The origins of margarine trace back to early ventures that eventually merged into Unilever. In 1871, Antoon Jurgens from Oss in the Netherlands secured the production patent from margarine inventor Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès. Subsequent consolidations led to the formation of Margarine Unie in 1927, which merged into Unilever two years later. Unilever then expanded its portfolio of margarine and spread products.
Although the spreads division maintained strong profitability, it experienced declining sales during the early 21st century as consumer preferences shifted toward butter; over the five years up to 2014, margarine volumes dropped by 6%, while butter consumption increased by 7%.
Following a 2017 acquisition bid from Kraft Heinz, Unilever's CEO Paul Polman committed to enhancing shareholder returns by divesting the spreads division.
This divestiture sparked competitive bids from private equity firms including Apollo Global Management, CVC Capital Partners, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and Bain Capital. Bloomberg identified this transaction as Europe’s largest leveraged buyout in 2017. By December that year, Unilever agreed to sell the division to KKR for €6.8 billion. The deal finalized in July 2018, financed through KKR-managed private equity funds across Europe and North America. The brands involved accounted for approximately 7% of Unilever’s worldwide operations.
In January 2020, Flora Food Group expanded its plant-based portfolio by acquiring Violife, a brand specializing in plant-based cheeses.
Confronted with ongoing declines in margarine demand, since mid-2020 Flora Food Group has pivoted towards plant-based products with a strong focus on sustainability to drive growth. The company allocated €50 million toward establishing a new research and development center dedicated to plant-based innovations, slated to open by the end of 2021.
In September 2024, Upfield underwent rebranding to become Flora Food Group.
Leadership
David Haines, previously serving as a non-executive director at tobacco firm Imperial Brands, was appointed as CEO in July 2018. Details about the current Executive Committee members are available on the Upfield website.
Products and operations
Flora Food Group's portfolio features several prominent brands, including:
- Flora, a margarine product
- Violife, a vegan cheese brand headquartered in Thessaloniki, Greece
- Country Crock, offering margarines and spreads
- Rama, margarine and cooking cream available in Germany
- Blue Band, a line of margarines and vegetable fat/cheese spreads
- I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, a spread made from vegetable oils
- Becel, plant-based margarines, including the ProActiv sub-brand
- Lätta, margarine sold in Sweden and Germany
- Bertolli olive oil spread range (trademark held by Mizkan Holdings)
- Elmlea, blends of buttermilk and vegetable oils serving as cream substitutes
- Additional brands such as Fruit d'Or, Planta Fin, Stork (margarine), Delma, Minyak Samin Cap Onta (Indonesia), Frytol (Indonesia), and Tulipãn (Spain)
In southern Africa, several brands are managed by Siqalo Foods, a company owned by Remgro, rather than Upfield.
After its separation from Unilever in 2018, Upfield shut down the Purfleet-on-Thames manufacturing site, resulting in 200 job losses due to operational inefficiencies and elevated expenses. In June 2020, Upfield revealed plans to relocate production from its Helsingborg facility in Sweden, affecting 80 staff members; cheese and dairy operations were transferred to Kleve, Germany by February 2021. The Helsingborg plant was scheduled to close in February 2025 after nearly five decades of operation, impacting 62 employees. This factory produced margarine products such as Lätta, Becel, and Flora.
In 2020, UK Flora Buttery production reintroduced buttermilk but removed it again along with palm oil by October 2023. Upfield also declared the closure of its Rotterdam factory by mid-2022. In November 2021, Upfield expanded by acquiring Unilever’s manufacturing facility located in Cali, Colombia, which produces brands including Rama, Violife, and Blue Band.