Saputo Dairy UK explained

Saputo Dairy UK
Type:Limited Company
Former Name:Dairy Crest plc
Foundation:1981
Key People:Tom Atherton
(President And COO)
Industry:Dairy Products
Products:Cathedral City (cheese)
Clover
Petits Filous
Revenue:£456.8 million (2018)[1]
Operating Income:£71.4 million (2018)
Net Income:£149.5 million (2018)
Num Employees:1,097 (2018)
Owner:Saputo Inc.

Saputo Dairy UK, formerly Dairy Crest Limited, is a British dairy products company. It was created in 2019 when the Canadian company Saputo Inc bought Dairy Crest. Dairy Crest itself was created in 1981 as a spin-off of the Milk Marketing Board.[2] [3] Its brands include Saputo Dairy UK, Cathedral City Cheddar Cheese, Country Life Butter, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite and Clover.

Dairy Crest processed and sold milk (wholesale and via doorstep deliveries) and owned the milkshake brand Frijj until the sale of that part of the business to Germany's Müller in 2015. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange as Dairy Crest plc, until it was acquired by Saputo in 2019.[4] Saputo rebranded the company under its own name later that year.

History

Dairy Crest was established in 1981 as the milk processing arm of the Milk Marketing Board.[5] In 1983, the company launched Clover, a dairy spread.[5] The company established a joint venture with French dairy company Yoplait in 1981, called Yoplait Dairy Crest (sometimes abbreviated to YDC). YDC is 51% owned by Yoplait and 49% by Dairy Crest, and distributes Yoplait brand products in the UK.[5]

In 1995, Dairy Crest bought the Cathedral City brand of cheese from Mendip Foods Ltd.[5] The business was privatised the following year and Dairy Crest was listed on the London Stock Exchange.[5]

In 2000, Dairy Crest acquired the dairy and cheese products division of Unigate in London, and in 2002 bought the St Ivel spreads company, which had been based in Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire. In 2004, it acquired the Country Life butter brand from the English Butter Marketing Company, and Express Dairies from Arla Foods in 2006 for £33 million.[6]

The company sold the majority of its own-label cheese business to its Scottish equivalent First Milk in 2006, along with the creameries and factory that produce most of the products concerned.[7] In 2007, Dairy Crest bought St Hubert for £248 million, securing the Cholegram, Le Fleurier, Omega 3 and Vallé brands, which were subsequently sold in 2012 to Montagu Private Equity for €430 million (£347 million).[8]

Sale of milk business

Dairy Crest sold its doorstep milk delivery operations in the North West of England in July 2013 to Creamline Dairies who now operate the milk rounds from the depots in Warrington, Flixton, Stockport and Macclesfield and Mortons operate all those in Wirral, Chester and Liverpool.[9] Dairy Crest announced a big slump in profits on 6 November 2014 which was down 95% to £900,000 in the six months to September.[10]

The company agreed the sale of its entire legacy milk business, which processes and distributes milk, as well as the Frijj milkshake brand, to Germany's Müller for £80 million, enabling it to be combined with Müller's existing subsidiary, Müller Wiseman Dairies. The sale was approved by the Competition and Markets Authority on 19 October 2015,[11] and completed the following December.[12]

Acquisition by Saputo

It was announced in 2019 that Canadian dairy company Saputo Inc would be buying Dairy Crest.[13]

The company was valued at £975 million, making each share worth 620p.[14] The transaction was completed on 15 April 2019.[15] At the time of the sale, Dairy Crest was the fourth largest dairy company in the UK based on turnover.[16] Saputo renamed the business under its own brand in July 2019, though Dairy Crest Limited remained the principal legal entity.[17]

Operations

The company supplies cheese, spreads and drinks. Cheese brands include Cathedral City, Davidstow Cheddar and Wexford.[18] Spread brands include Clover, Country Life, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite and Willow.[18] Spread and Frylight cooking spray production is consolidated at Kirkby.[19] Davidstow Creamery in Cornwall has been run by the company since 1981.

At Truro Crown Court in December 2021, Dairy Crest admitted charges relating to a series of incidents of serious pollution between December 2015 and January 2021, including the illegal discharge of "biological sludge" and "suspended solids" from its creamery at Davidstow into the River Inny, Cornwall.[20] Fines of £1.52 million were imposed on the company in June 2022.[21]

Plans for the Crudgington Creamery to close were announced in 2012.[22] The Creamery closed in May 2014, when production of spreads was concentrated at Kirkby while the research and development facility was transferred to an innovation centre built by the company at Harper Adams University.[23]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Annual Report 2018. Dairy Crest. 17 March 2019.
  2. Web site: Dairy Crest becomes Saputo Dairy UK. 7 July 2020. dairyreporter.com. en-GB.
  3. Web site: SAPUTO DAIRY UK LTD - Filing history (free information from Companies House). 7 July 2020. beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. en.
  4. News: Dairy Crest name to disappear as it rebrands to Saputo Dairy UK. www.thegrocer.co.uk. 15 May 2019. 14 August 2020.
  5. Web site: Dairly Crest History . 25 August 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080918091122/http://www.dairycrest.co.uk/ourbusiness/ourhistory.asp. 18 September 2008. dead .
  6. Web site: Dairy Crest buys rival to expand milk round. Mark Tran. The Guardian. 24 July 2006. 26 March 2015.
  7. Web site: BBC NEWS - Business - Dairy Crest sells cheese business. bbc.co.uk. 26 September 2006. 26 March 2015.
  8. Web site: Dairy Crest sells St Hubert. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/61dYO . 11 December 2022 . subscription. www.ft.com. 29 June 2012. 10 July 2022.
  9. Web site: Creamline FAQs - General FAQs - Help and Support. creamline.co.uk. 26 March 2015.
  10. News: Dairy Crest sells milk operations as profits slump. BBC News. 6 November 2014. 6 November 2014.
  11. News: Ratcliffe. Madeline. Dairy Crest share price rises as CMA approves Muller takeover. 23 October 2015. City AM. 19 October 2015.
  12. News: Daneshkhu. Scheherazade. Dairy Crest loses taste for UK milk production with Müller deal. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/ZBewi . 11 December 2022 . subscription . live. 28 December 2015. Financial Times. 28 December 2015.
  13. News: Cathedral City firm to be bought for £975m . 22 February 2019 . BBC News . 22 February 2019.
  14. News: Onita . Laura . Dairy Crest deal set to net boss Mark Allen £4.8 million . 22 February 2019 . Evening Standard . 22 February 2019 . en.
  15. Web site: Saputo completes acquisition of Dairy Crest. 18 April 2019. Food Manufacture. 19 April 2019.
  16. Web site: White. Kevin. Who owns the dairy industry? The 10 biggest dairy companies in the UK. 2020-07-07. The Grocer. en.
  17. News: Sandercock . Henry . Dairy Crest brand replaced by new owner Saputo . 12 April 2020 . The Grocer . 4 July 2019.
  18. Web site: Dairy Crest: Brands . 20 March 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100312060039/http://www.dairycrest.co.uk/our-brands--products.aspx . 12 March 2010 . dead .
  19. Web site: Dairy Crest: Locations . 20 March 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100327212721/http://www.dairycrest.co.uk/our-business/our-locations.aspx . 27 March 2010 . dead .
  20. News: Discharge from Davidstow Cathedral City cheese factory poisoned fish. BBC News. 10 December 2021. 13 December 2021.
  21. News: Davidstow Cathedral City cheese firm pollution fine. BBC News. 23 June 2022. 23 June 2022.
  22. News: Dairy Crest to close Shropshire creamery. farming.co.uk. 21 September 2012. 14 August 2020.
  23. News: Demolition to start at creamery, Landmark buildings to disappear. Shropshire Star. 12 June 2015. 6. Emma Walker.