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Dutch dairy company FrieslandCampina has sold its fruit juice division, which also contained the Appelsientje brand, to investment firm Standard Investment. The acquisition fee was not disclosed.
New markets and more marketing
The juice division was once part of Riedel, which merged with FrieslandCampina’s predecessor in 1970. Its current turnover reached 125 million in a market that shrank 25 % over the past decade. Even Riedel’s juices have not managed to escape that. Standard Investment now hopes to turn the tide with the introduction of its juices with several European supermarket chains.
“We feel Riedel has a lot of untapped potential, which was unable to surface under FrieslandCampina’s banner”, Standard Investment’s partner, Guido Grobbink, said. “Its brands are very well-known with Dutch people and its products always come out on top in the flavour tests.” It will also invest more in marketing, something that was lowered over the past few years, when it was still part of dairy company FrieslandCampina. Its new owner is also considering new markets, like Scandinavia and Germany.
Standard Investment was not the only interested company, because German Eckes-Granini and Dutch bottling company Refresco also expressed an interest. The investment firm is not new in the food sector: it owns shares in Burger King Netherlands and pre-baked bun manufacturer Dutch Bakery. FrieslandCampina will retain a minority stake in the company.
