Food Concepts Plc, a foremost firm in the West African food industry with a basket of top brands including Chicken Republic, Butterfield Bakery and Free Range Farms, has announced its partnership in its Baked Good Division, with Pioneer Foods, a leading South African FMCG company.

Phil Roux, CEO, Pioneer Foods, said in a statement, “Butterfield provides an ideal opportunity to leverage our expertise to grow the bread category.

Pioneer aims to be a leading FMCG company in Africa, and Nigeria is a key market for any food company in search of growth.”

On his part, Deji Akinyanju, chairman of Food Concepts Plc, said the partnership will be beneficial from the combination of the respective strengths which will be used to tap into the vast opportunities in the Nigerian FMCG sector to deliver extraordinary value to customers.

Food Concepts was founded by Akinyanju, an entrepreneur, in 2001.

The company, whose shareholders include International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank member, and Development Partners International (DPI), a UK based private equity firm focused on African investments, continues to evolve in a remarkable story of a revolution in the Nigerian food sector.

The statement said the company recently demerged its Baked Goods Division into Food Concepts Pioneer Limited (FCPL).

Pioneer Foods acquired 50.01% of FCPL while Food Concepts Plc retains 49.9%. FCPL will house Butterfield Bakeries, a baked goods business specialising in bread and sausage roll production.

This will allow Pioneer Foods to leverage existing infrastructure and brand recognition — both crucial elements of consumer packaged-goods companies. Pioneer Foods will implement several operational changes to the Butterfield bakery to increase its efficiency and consistency.

March 11, 2015; http://businessdayonline.com/2015/03/food-concepts-partners-pioneer-foods-south-africa/#.VQBAX-Hcy94