Premier Foods acquires Indian-South Asian meal kit brand

Premier Foods has acquired Indian and South Asian meal kits and accompaniments brands The Spice Tailor in a deal worth 43.8 million pounds.

Premier, whose brands also include Mr. Kipling and Bisto, said it would acquire 100 percent of The Spice Tailor shares for a cash payment. The meals brand said it expected to generate revenue of £17.3 million this financial year.

“The acquisition is well aligned to our growth strategy and we see a clear opportunity to build on the excellent track record of The Spice Tailor, by leveraging the elements of our proven branded growth model,” Evening Standard quoted Alex Whitehouse, boss of Premier Foods, as saying.

Premier said that the purchase represents a “highly complementary geographical fit” with Premier’s current brands and that there was “significant potential” to expand distribution in all of the FMCG giant’s target markets including the UK, Australia, Canada and Ireland.

“We see this as another important milestone for us following the group’s strong performance over recent years and The Spice Tailor is an important addition to accelerate our future growth plans,” Whitehouse added.

“We see Premier with their track record of brand investment and strong commercial relationships, as the perfect fit for The Spice Tailor, driving it onto the next stage of its evolution,” said Adarsh and Anjum Sethia, founders of The Spice Tailor.

Premier said that once the product range was integrated into the group’s cooking sauces and accompaniments category team, that The Spice Tailor would benefit from “increased levels of marketing investment” to drive product awareness and household penetration.

The meals business already has distribution deals with major supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco, Ocado, Asda and Morrisons.