FRANCE – Emmi, a Swiss milk processor and dairy products company, has increased its stake in Emmi Ambrosi France, a packaged cheese joint venture in France, from 51% to 85%.
According to FoodBev, the business was founded in 2008 following a collaboration between Emmi and Italian cheese specialist Ambrosi, as the companies aimed to offer their customers a “comprehensive, high-quality range” of traditional Swiss and Italian cheeses and jointly drive forward their international growth.
It is responsible for the administrative and logistical handling of A-27’s dessert products in France and generates sales of around US$80.4 million.
In 2007 Emmi bought a 25% stake in Ambrosi, a move to strengthen both company’s offering of premium cheese products.
The firms have continued to market their products independently in Italy.
Ambrosi produces, matures and markets mainly parmigiano reggiano and grana padano, as well as other cheeses such as mozzarella and gorgonzola.
Emmi recently sold a 22% stake in yogurt brand Siggi’s, as it aims to focus its US business on milk and cheese products and seeks to broaden its international reach earlier in 2017 with the purchase of Brazilian producer Laticínios Porto Alegre.
The company also recently increased its stake in the Netherlands’ AVH Dairy Trade amid a continuing focus on goat’s milk products.
Emmi had held a stake in AVH – a trader of sheep’s milk and goat’s milk products based in Bergen, north of Amsterdam – since January 2013.
The Swiss company increased that stake from 75% to 90%, while the remaining 10% will continue to be held by AVH’s founder.
In January 2016, it took a 60% stake in Dutch dairy producer Bettinehoeve, which is the largest producer of fresh and ripened goat’s cheese in the Benelux region.
Emmi also agreed to a deal for US goat’s milk processor Jackson-Mitchell, which markets goat’s milk products under the Meyenberg brand and supplies fresh, evaporated and powdered goat’s milk to the US market.
More recently, it has diversified within the speciality cheeses market by acquiring Shepherd Gourmet Dairy, an Ontario-based manufacturer of speciality cheeses and yogurts.
