What’s Cooking? wants to sell off cold meat division

Belgian What’s Cooking? (formerly Ter Beke) is considering getting rid of its entire cold meat division. A few years ago, the group still tried to take over Aoste and Marcassou.

Strategic options

The company has started a process to “explore strategic options” for its Savoury business unit, which could potentially lead to the complete sale of the cold meat branch in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

The announcement is notable because the branch accounts for more than half of all sales (464 out of 832 million euros). However, the savoury segment accounted for just 0.3 million euros of operating profit in 2023. Moreover, only in 2021 the company was still trying to significantly expand its operations through the acquisition of Aoste and Marcassou, which failed due to opposition of the Belgian and Dutch competition authorities.

Now the company wants to focus on a new business strategy, with more plant-based food and prepared meals. It stresses that no definitive commitments have been made to date and the terms of a possible transaction are not yet known. Neither is it certain whether a transaction will actually take place.