US – DairyFood USA, one of the largest specialty cheesemakers in North America, has announced an agreement with Gilman Cheese Corp., the largest supplier of smoked Gouda in the United States., which will enable them to merge.

 The merging will enable the new entity to create an expanded product mix from the two companies’ portfolios to meet the needs of its customers around the world.

DairyFoods noted that through the merging, the products and legacy of each company will make the Wisconsin cheese industry stronger and more competitive while providing our customers with additional opportunities.

Following the planned retirement of DairyFood USA President and CEO Daniel Culligan, Gilman Cheese Corp. President David Delgado will oversee the integration of the combined organization alongside the DairyFood USA and Gilman management teams, DairyFood USA said.

Delgado said: “We are excited to partner with another Wisconsin cheese processor and provide additional products to customers, including the naturally smoked cheeses DairyFood USA is known for.”

There are also significant opportunities for innovation as worldwide demand for processed cheese continues to grow.”

The merging is timely as research by IMARC is projecting the market size of the cheese market to grow to reach US$ 113.3 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.31% during the forecast period (2022-2027).

The market research company owes the growth of the market to the rising number of food chains across the globe that have led to an emerging trend of eating out, and the rising consumption of processed foods.

In addition, the increasing trend of westernization is escalating the demand for cheese in emerging economies such as China and India.

Besides this, the leading market players are introducing low- or zero-fat cheese variants to attract health-conscious consumers while also investing in aggressive promotional strategies to create awareness among consumers in untapped markets.

Meanwhile, GlobalData’s deals database also announced that the total food industry Merger and Acquisition (M&A) deals were worth US$271.3million in March 2022, led by China Youran Dairy Group’s US$154.31million acquisition of a 27.2% stake in Wholesome Harvest.

The value marked a decrease of 56.8% over the previous month of US$627.32million and a drop of 87.1% when compared with the last 12-month average, which stood at US$2.11billion, according to data analytics and consulting company.

Comparing M&A deals value in different regions of the globe, South and Central America held the top position, with a total of announced deals in the period worth US$154.31million.

At the country level, the Cayman Islands (GD Deals) topped the list in terms of deal value at US$154.31million.

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