BRAZIL – McCain Foods, a leading manufacturer of frozen potato products has acquired 70% stake of Serya Alimentos S.A., a Brazilian company focused on the production and marketing of frozen potato specialties.
The investment expands McCain’s presence in the Brazilian pre-formed potato specialty market.
According to the company, Brazil is one of its focus markets where it looks to achieve accelerated growth through a strategy that will make it the leading supplier of potato products.
“Brazil currently reports as the 5th largest market in the world for frozen french fries, with broad potential to become the third largest market by 2021”, said Aluizo Neto, Managing Director of McCain in Brazil, who from now on will also lead Sérya’s operations.
“This investment allows McCain to focus more efforts on local development of high value-added products and in line with our leadership strategy in the potatoes and appetizers market.”
The deal with Serya strengthens McCain’s expansion strategy in Brazil, after it acquired a 49% stake in Forno de Minas last year.
Forno de Minas, which makes cheese bread, corn broth, cheese sticks, and other products mainly for the Brazilian consumers owns the remaining 30% of the Sérya business.
Forno de Minas produces and markets a range of frozen and fresh products such as waffles, stuffed pasta, puff pastry and potato breads in Brazil as well as in the international market.
As the international market for potato products becomes attractive, McCain Foods also recently said it is investing US$300 million in its potato processing facility in Othello, Washington, US.
The investment allows the company to expand its production capacity at the facility which serves both the retail and foodservice industries in North America.
McCain Foods is the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, employing approximately 20,000 and operating 47 production facilities on six continents.
