Saputo Dairy UK

Saputo Dairy UK Limited is a holding company for Dairy Crest Limited; a leading British dairy products company. It was created in May 2019, when the Canadian company Saputo Inc bought out Dairy Crest. Dairy Crest itself was created in 1981, as a spin off of the Milk Marketing Board.[2][3] Its brands include Saputo Dairy UK, Cathedral City Cheddar cheese, Country Life butter, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite and Clover.

Saputo Dairy UK
Formerly
Dairy Crest plc
Limited company
Traded asLSE: DCG
IndustryDairy Products
Founded1981
HeadquartersWeybridge, Surrey, United Kingdom
Key people
Tom Atherton (President and COO)
ProductsCathedral City (cheese)
Clover
Petits Filous
Revenue£456.8 million (2018)[1]
£71.4 million (2018)[1]
£149.5 million (2018)[1]
OwnerSaputo Inc.
Number of employees
1,097 (2018)[1]
Websiteuk.saputo.com

Dairy Crest processed and sold milk (wholesale and via doorstep deliveries) and owned the milkshake brand Frijj until the sale of this part of the business to Germany's Müller in December 2015. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange as Dairy Crest plc, until it was acquired by Saputo in April 2019.[4] Saputo rebranded the company under its own name later that year.

History

Dairy Crest was established in 1981, as the milk processing arm of the Milk Marketing Board.[5] In 1983, the company launched Clover, its dairy spread.[5] In 1991, the company established a joint venture with French dairy company, Yoplait, called Yoplait Dairy Crest (often abbreviated to YDC) which is 51% owned by Yoplait and 49% by Dairy Crest and which distributes Yoplait brand products in the United Kingdom.[5]

In 1995, it bought the Cathedral City brand of cheese from Mendip Foods Ltd.[5] The business was privatised in August 1996, and Dairy Crest was listed on the London Stock Exchange.[5]

Logo as Dairy Crest

In July 2000, it acquired the dairy and cheese products division of Unigate in London,[5] and in November 2002, it acquired the St Ivel spreads company which had been based in Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire.[5] In September 2004, it acquired the Country Life butter brand from the English Butter Marketing Company.[5] In July 2006, it acquired Express Dairies from Arla Foods for £33m.[6]

In October 2006, it sold the majority of its own label cheese business to First Milk, its Scottish equivalent, along with the creameries and factory that produce most of the products concerned.[7] In January 2007, Dairy Crest bought St Hubert for £248 million securing the Cholegram, Le Fleurier and Omega 3 brands, which are among the top selling spreads in France, and the Vallé brand which is the market leader in Italy.[8]

Sale of milk business
A Dairy Crest Smith's Elizabethan milk float (2008)

In July 2013, Dairy Crest sold its doorstep milk delivery operations in the Northwest of England to Creamline Dairies, who now operate the milk rounds from the depots in Warrington, Flixton, Stockport and Macclesfield, and Mortons, operate all those in Wirral, Chester and Liverpool.[9] On 6 November 2014, Dairy Crest announced a big slump in profits, down 95% to £900,000 in the six months to September.[10]

The company agreed the sale of its entire legacy milk business, which processes and distributes milk, as well as the milkshake brand of Frijj, to Germany's Müller for £80 million, to be combined with Müller's existing subsidiary Müller Wiseman Dairies. The sale was approved by the Competition and Markets Authority on 19 October 2015,[11] and the sale was completed on 26 December 2015.[12]

Acquisition by Saputo

On 22 February 2019, it was announced that Canadian dairy company Saputo Inc would be buying Dairy Crest.[13]

The company was valued at £975m, making each share worth 620p.[14] The transaction was completed on 15 April 2019.[15] At the time of the sale, Dairy Crest was the fourth largest dairy company in the United Kingdom, based on turnover.[16] Saputo renamed the business under its own brand in July 2019, though Dairy Crest Limited remained the principle legal entity.[17][2]

Operations

The company supplies cheese, spreads and drinks. Cheese brands include Cathedral City, Davidstow Cheddar and Wexford.[18] Spread brands include Clover, Country Life, St Hubert, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite and Willow.[18] Drink brands include Country Life Milk.[19] Spread production is consolidated at Kirkby.[20] Davidstow Creamery in Cornwall has been run by the company since 1981.

As of August 2020, it produces Cathedral City and Davidstow Cheddar. Crudgington Creamery was closed in May 2014, when production of spreads was concentrated at Kirkby, while its research and development facility was transferred to an innovation centre, built by the company at Harper Adams University.[21] Plans for the creamery to close were first announced in September 2012.[22]

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References
  1. "Annual Report 2018" (PDF). Dairy Crest. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  2. dairyreporter.com. "Dairy Crest becomes Saputo Dairy UK". dairyreporter.com. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  3. "SAPUTO DAIRY UK LTD - Filing history (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  4. "Dairy Crest name to disappear as it rebrands to Saputo Dairy UK". www.thegrocer.co.uk. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  5. "Dairly Crest History". Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  6. Mark Tran. "Dairy Crest buys rival to expand milk round". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  7. "BBC NEWS - Business - Dairy Crest sells cheese business". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  8. "Dairy Crest buys St Hubert from Uniq". This is Money. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  9. "Creamline FAQs - General FAQs - Help and Support". creamline.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  10. "Dairy Crest sells milk operations as profits slump". BBC News. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  11. Ratcliffe, Madeline (19 October 2015). "Dairy Crest share price rises as CMA approves Muller takeover". City AM. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  12. Daneshkhu, Scheherazade (28 December 2015). "Dairy Crest loses taste for UK milk production with Müller deal". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  13. "Cathedral City firm to be bought for £975m". BBC News. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  14. Onita, Laura (22 February 2019). "Dairy Crest deal set to net boss Mark Allen £4.8 million". Evening Standard. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  15. "Saputo completes acquisition of Dairy Crest". Food Manufacture. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  16. White2019-03-04T14:08:00+00:00, Kevin. "Who owns the dairy industry? The 10 biggest dairy companies in the UK". The Grocer. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  17. Sandercock, Henry (4 July 2019). "Dairy Crest brand replaced by new owner Saputo". The Grocer. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  18. "Dairy Crest: Brands". Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  19. "Dairy Crest launches website for Country Life Organic Milk". Talking Retail. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  20. "Dairy Crest: Locations". Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  21. Emma Walker (12 June 2015). "Demolition to start at creamery, Landmark buildings to disappear". Shropshire Star. p. 6. The headline refers to demolition of the premises due to begin 2015.
  22. "Dairy Crest to close Shropshire creamery". farming.co.uk. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
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