PepsiCo SA divests Bovril, Marmite, Savory Ingredients business to Lallemand

SOUTH AFRICA– Beverage giant PepsiCo South Africa has agreed to divest its Bovril and Marmite black spreads and Savory Food Ingredients businesses to Canadian ingredient company Lallemand (via Rymo, its South Africa-based affiliate). 

The transaction will be complete by Q4 2024, albeit subject to approval from the Competition Commission of South Africa. Specific terms of the transactions have not been unveiled to the public.  

The food and beverage company’s savory food ingredients business unit produces the two popular black spreads as well as various other ingredients like yeast extracts and vegetable protein-based flavorings for manufacturers in South Africa. 

As such, the move is viewed as an important avenue for Lallemand to grow and expand in the South African and African markets. The Canadian company hopes to leverage the brand image and networks of the acquired entities. 

Antoine Chagnon, Lallemand’s CEO, said, “This Savoury Food Ingredients business unit is also complementary to the taste and savory solutions offered by Lallemand Bio-Ingredients business to its global food manufacturing customers.” 

“The addition of the Marmite and Bovril brands will be highly complementary to our Anchor Yeast consumer product offering and existing business with South Africa’s leading retail outlets.” 

PepsiCo SA welcomed the move, praising the Canadian ingredient company’s expertise and capacity further develop biotechnology application in South Africa’s ingredients market, while at the same time providing PepsiCo an opportunity to provide a focused portfolio. 

Riaan Heyl, PepsiCo South Africa’s CEO, said, “The sale of the Savory Food Ingredients business unit is in line with the company’s vision to win in the marketplace with a simplified and focused product portfolio. We feel Anchor Yeast’s expertise in this sector makes it well placed to take on and further develop this opportunity.” 

The move is seen as a continuation of PepsiCo SA’s aggressive amalgamation-centric growth and expansion strategy. 

In March, PepsiCo’s largest franchise bottler, Varun Beverages Limited revealed the acquisition of South African beverage company BevCo as well as all its subsidiaries. Through the acquisition, Varun was able to leverage BevCo’s five manufacturing facilities in South Africa, with a combined installed capacity of 3,600 bottles. 

The facility would be primarily be used for PepsiCo products, which translates to the indirect enhanced production capacity and distribution network in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini.  

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