| Cerebos Pacific Limited | |
| Industry: | Food products |
| Founded: | 1981 |
| Defunct: | 2018 |
| Fate: | Most assets acquired by Kraft Heinz; Health supplements division was moved to Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd. |
| Hq Location: | Singapore |
| Area Served: | Asia-Pacific |
Cerebos Pacific Limited (CPL) was a company that sold health supplements, food and coffee products across the Asia-Pacific region. In 2018, Kraft Heinz acquired Cerebos from Japan's Suntory Holdings.[1] [2]
Cerebos Pacific Limited traces its name back to 1892, when George Weddell decided to mix calcium phosphate with salt and invented dry-pouring salt. The brand name 'Cerebos' was derived from 'Ceres' for the Roman goddess of wheat harvest, and 'os' from the French word for 'bone.'
Cerebos subsequently grew to include a wide range of food products. It acquired Brand & Company in 1959 and later acquired Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1968.
In 1981, Cerebos Pacific Limited was formed, and in 1982 it acquired all RHM subsidiaries in the Asia-Pacific region.[3] Suntory Holdings later purchased RHM shares in Cerebos Pacific Limited in 1990. In 2012, Cerebos was delisted from SGX and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Suntory until 2018, when its food and coffee division (including the Cerebos brand name in the Asia-Pacific region) was acquired by the Kraft Heinz Company. Suntory subsequently moved the health supplements division (now under Brand's brand name) to Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd., and CPL was deregistered from the company register of Singapore.[4]
| Year | History | |
|---|---|---|
| 1820s | The poor health of King George IV inspired a royal chef, Mr. Henderson William Brand, to develop an essence of chicken beverage to boost His Majesty's condition.[5] | |
| 1835 | Mr. Brand commercialised Brand's Essence of Chicken after his retirement.[6] | |
| 1873 | Mrs. Brand passes the business to J J Mason who is joined in partnership by Mr. Thomas Dence. | |
| 1887 | A new factory is built at 72-84 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, [London]. | |
| 1894 | Cerebos Ltd (UK) is registered. | |
| 1897 | Brand & Co Ltd is registered. | |
| 1900s | Brand's fame spreads throughout the British Empire. | |
| 1920s | Brand's Essence of Chicken arrives in Asia. | |
| 1925 | Gregg's operations are consolidated and established at Forth Street, Dunedin, where it continues to operate today.[7] |
| Year | History | |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Formation of Dominion Salt Limited in New Zealand (Salt Refining).[8] | |
| 1953 | Formation of Cerebos (Australia) Ltd.[9] | |
| 1958 | Formation of Cerebos (New Zealand) Ltd. | |
| 1959 | Brand & Co Ltd, UK is acquired by Cerebos Ltd, UK. | |
| 1960 | Formation of Cerebos (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. | |
| 1964 | Gregg's Ltd. was formed to become the holding company of W Gregg's & Co and Island Food's Ltd. | |
| 1967 | Whittome Stevenson's name is changed to Cerebos Foods (New Zealand) Ltd. |
| Year | History | |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Formation of Cerebos (Singapore) Pte Ltd. | |
| Cerebos Ltd, UK is acquired by Ranks Hovis McDougall PLC. | ||
| 1969 | Formation of Cerebos-Skellerup Ltd.[10] | |
| 1973 | Dominion Salt (NI), establishes solar and vacuum salt refineries at Mt Manganui, New Zealand. | |
| 1974 | Formation of Cerebos (Thailand) Ltd. | |
| Formation of Cerebos (Taiwan) Ltd.[11] | ||
| 1978 | Formation of Yakult (Singapore) Pte Ltd[12] [Joint Venture with [[Yakult]] Honsha Ltd, Japan]. | |
| 1981 | Formation of Cerebos Pacific Limited in Singapore.[13] | |
| 1982 | Cerebos Pacific Limited acquires Ranks Hovis McDougall PLC subsidiaries in the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. | |
| Formation of Cerebos Eastern (Singapore) Pte Ltd. | ||
| 1983 | Cerebos Pacific Limited is listed on the Stock Exchange of Singapore. | |
| Cerebos Eastern (Singapore) Pte Ltd becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Cerebos Pacific Limited. | ||
| 1984 | Merger of Gregg's Ltd with Cerebos (New Zealand) Ltd and formation of Cerebos Gregg's Ltd (New Zealand). | |
| Cerebos Gregg's is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. | ||
| 1985 | Acquisition of Menu Master Pty Ltd. | |
| 1990 | Cerebos Pacific Limited is acquired by Suntory Holdings Limited. | |
| Suntory purchases Ranks Hovis McDougall PLC's share in Cerebos Pacific Ltd.[14] | ||
| Cerebos acquires Robert Harris Tea & Coffee (New Zealand).[15] | ||
| 1991 | Cerebos acquires Keri Juices Ltd. | |
| 1992 | Cerebos acquires F Whitlock and Son Ltd. | |
| Cerebos acquires Pizza Hut Singapore Pte Ltd. | ||
| 1994 | High Tech Foods (Guangzhou) Ltd was formed in The People's Republic of China. | |
| 1995 | Cerebos acquires Woh Hup Food Industries Pte Ltd. | |
| 1996 | Cerebos acquires Horleys Health. | |
| Divestment of Pizza Hut Singapore Pte Ltd. | ||
| 1997 | Cerebos acquires Asian Home Gourmet. | |
| Cerebos acquires Rio Beverages Ltd.[16] |
| Year | History | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Cerebos enters a joint venture with Rio Beverages Ltd. of New Zealand. | |
| 2002 | High Tech Foods (Guangzhou) Ltd is renamed Cerebos (Guangzhou) Limited. | |
| Incorporation of PT Cerebos Indonesia. | ||
| Completion of sale of Rio Beverages Limited.[17] | ||
| Incorporation of Soberec (Thailand) Limited.[18] | ||
| Change of name from Cerebos Ingredients Pty Ltd to Riva Coffee Co Pty Ltd. | ||
| 2003 | Brand's Museum opens in Thailand.[19] | |
| Sale of Yakult Singapore Pte Ltd. | ||
| Brand's Health Museum is set up in Taiwan.[20] | ||
| 2004 | Cerebos divests four non-core brands in Australia: – Menu Master, Ocean Supreme, Garden Supreme and Regal Sea. | |
| 2005 | Acquisition of Atomic Coffee Roasters Ltd in New Zealand.[21] | |
| 2007 | Incorporation of Brand's (1835) Limited in Thailand. | |
| Cerebos acquires Amcor Closures Asia Pacific in Philippines, later renamed as CPL Packaging Inc.[22] | ||
| 2009 | Cerebos Australia announces its joint venture with Toby's Estate.[23] [24] | |
| Cerebos launches Espresso Mechanics. | ||
| 2010 | Launch of Brand's Brain Research Centre in Singapore.[25] | |
| Launch of Brand's manufacturing facility at Pinthong Industrial Estate in Thailand.[26] | ||
| Divestment of Brand's Japan Limited. | ||
| Official opening of the new roasting facility for Mocopan Coffee at [Victoria], Australia. | ||
| 2011 | Toby's Estate opens its first café in Singapore.[27] | |
| 2012 | Opening of new laboratory and research centre at Biopolis, Singapore.[28] | |
| Cerebos Pacific Limited is delisted from the Singapore Stock Exchange and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited.[29] | ||
| 2013 | Voluntary dissolution of Cerebos (Guangzhou) Ltd. | |
| 2018 | Kraft Heinz acquires most of Cerebos Pacific Limited assets from Suntory Holdings Limited. Company deregistered from the company register of Singapore. |
In Asia, the Health Supplement Division managed Brand's liquid and tablet product ranges for consumers’ health and wellness needs. Other Brain-to-Body Wellness brands include Xu Pei and Hua Tuo. Skin and Beauty Wellness brands. Each of these brands had a wide range of products targeted at different segments. This division was not included in the Kraft Heinz acquisition and instead moved by Suntory to Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd..
In Australasia, Cerebos was a sauce, spice and coffee manufacturing organization. Based in Australia, the Food & Coffee Division products included gravies, sauces, pickles, herbs and spices, salt, pepper, food mixes, desserts and toppings, drinks and coffee marketed under brand names including Gravox, Fountain, Saxa and Gregg's.
Cerebos’ coffee products include a variety of fresh coffee and instant coffees, sold under brand names such as Robert Harris, Mocopan, Toby's Estate, Caffe L’affare and Gregg's.[30] Kraft Heinz acquired the instant coffee division and Suntory retained the fresh coffee division which became Suntory Coffee Australia.[31] [32] [33]