Ferrero acquires Delacre and appoints new director

Italian Ferrero has acquired Belgian cookie manufacturer Delacre from United Biscuits yesterday. One of the new owner’s first actions was to appoint Jerome Gregoire as Delacre’s new managing director.

North American growth

Jerome Gregoire had been managing director for Ferrero’s operations in Greece, Cyprus and Malta, but will now take charge of Delacre’s cookies. Nutella’s parent company had issued an offer for Delacre in July through the Ferrero family’s investment company and after its completion, it aims to presents its customers with a wider range of cookies, which in turn would lower the dependency on its chocolate-based products.

It is also an excellent move for Ferrero’s ambitions in North America, because the Italians have to deal with major competition from other chocolate brands there, like Lindt and Godiva. It is not clear how much the company paid for Delacre, which had a 120 million euro full-year turnover last year.