Emmi Acquires Stake in Mexican Cheese Business
Swiss dairy group Emmi is to acquire for an undisclosed sum a 50% stake in Mexideli 2000 Holding, Mexico’s leading importer of speciality cheeses. The deal strengthens Emmi’s presence in Latin America and further advances its programme of international growth.
Emmi’s strategy is to increase, over the medium term, the share of sales attributable to international business to 50%. The share currently stands at around 43%. The aim is to achieve this growth both organically and through acquisitions, with a stronger focus in future on emerging markets outside Europe.
With the 50% stake in Mexideli 2000 Holding, Emmi is strengthening its position in an attractive, growing market and increasing the potential for exporting Emmi Group products toMexico. This gives the company a second strong base in Latin America alongside Chile.
Urs Riedener, chief executive of Emmi, comments: “Mexideli is a healthy and profitable company that has already been distributing Emmi products successfully for many years. Its leading position strengthens our opportunities in Mexico, a country that imports a lot of its cheese. The Emmi products set to benefit are its Swiss export cheese varieties, Swiss fondue, cheeses manufactured locally abroad and the desserts of the Italian producer A-27.“
Mexideli is a very well established company with a state-of-the-art logistics infrastructure spread across six locations in Mexico. It is Mexico’s leading importer of high quality speciality cheeses and also distributes speciality fresh products such as desserts, including those of the Emmi Group company A-27. The company has been operating successfully in the market for some 25 years and will generate sales of SFr45 million (around US$50 million) in 2013.
Mexideli has performed extremely well over the past few years, recording double-digit growth. The company offers the imported products to supermarkets with affluent consumers. The second, albeit smaller, pillar of its business is the food service sector, with a Mexideli subsidiary being the market leader in Cancún. Mexideli employs 250 people.
Around a quarter or some 400,000 tonnes of the cheese consumed in Mexico is imported, meaning that import expertise is vital. The cheese import market is growing at an annual rate in the mid-single digits, while imports of premium speciality cheeses are posting double-digit growth.
