Cavenham Foods
Cavenham Foods was one of the United Kingdom's largest food processing businesses.
Private | |
Industry | Retail |
Fate | Liquidated |
Founded | 1965 |
Defunct | Early 1980s |
Headquarters | London, UK |
Key people | James Goldsmith, (Chairman) |
History
The Company was founded by Sir James Goldsmith in 1965 when he bought up a series of bakeries.[1] In 1971 Cavenham acquired the Bovril Company but then sold most of its dairies and South American operations to finance further take-overs.[2] These take-overs came quickly and included Allied Suppliers (a British supermarket business) for £86m in 1972, the Grand Union Company (an American supermarket business) for £62m in 1973, Colonial Stores (another American supermarket business) for £133m in 1978 and J. Weingarten Inc. (also an American supermarket business) in 1979.[2]
Goldsmith divested most of his investments in the early 1980s.[2] The main British part of the business, Allied Suppliers, went to Argyll Foods.[3]
References
- The Young Lions of Europe Time Magazine, 25 September 1972
- Goldsmith Archived January 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- Obituary: James Gulliver The Independent, 23 September 1996