Central Foods acquired by Gressingham Group

Frozen food distributor Central Foods has been acquired by the Gressingham Group of companies.

Founded in 1996, Central Foods is based in Collingtree, Northamptonshire and has revenues of over £50m.

Its customers include Bidfood, Brakes and wholesale buying groups such as Caterforce and Country Range, as well as major operator names such as Greene King and Whitbread.

Central Foods’ new owner, Suffolk-headquartered national food producer and wholesaler Gressingham Group, also owns retail brand Gressingham duck, as well as wholesale foodservice specialists including Reids of Norwich, JF Edwards and Peter Thomson Group.

MHA advised Central Foods on the sale, including identifying potential partners both in the UK and internationally who were capable of protecting Central Foods’ customer relationships and team culture, while enabling the shareholders to meet their personal objectives.

Gressingham Group was selected as a partner due to its “alignment with Central Foods’ values and culture as well as its market reputation”. For Gressingham Group, the acquisition complements its growing offering in the UK food sector.

Two of Central Foods’ founders, Gordon and Alison Lauder, will remain as directors of the business. Gordon will hand over responsibilities as MD after 28 years at the helm to Oli Sampson, who is being promoted from commercial manager to ensure the business continues to operate as usual.

Gordon and Alison Lauder said: “We believed it would be a challenging brief to identify a partner which would complement Central Foods’ business, safeguard our culture, and offer security and progression opportunities for our staff.

“MHA’s guidance to prepare for the transaction was comprehensive, and the targeted process the team delivered yielded options which meant we could focus on selecting the best partner for Central Foods.”

William Buchanan, director, Gressingham Group, said: “Central Foods’ business opens up a new market category for us and its reputation for excellent products and service complements our existing presence in the foodservice sector. We look forward to continuing to make frozen food wholesalers’ lives easier.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Last year, Central Foods partnered with global food company Tyson Foods’ UK division to increase Tyson’s national distribution of chicken products.