Asia-Pacific fastest growing region for Kerry Group

Asia-Pacific fastest growing region for Kerry Group
Asia-Pacific fastest growing region for Kerry Group

Despite tough conditions in Europe, food group Kerry has reported a 10.9pc increase in sales revenue for the first nine months of the year to €4.4bn and trading profit growth of 12.1pc.

In the ingredients and flavours part of the business, the Americas region achieved solid growth of 2.4pc “through successful layering of technologies and innovation”.

Indianapolis-based Millennium Foods was acquired in August further strengthening Kerry’s technologies serving dairy, culinary and prepared meals end-use-markets.

And Griffith do Brasil, a specialist manufacturer of meat systems, flavours and texturant systems was also acquired – extending the group’s capability to serve added-value growth segments of the Brazilian meat industry.

In the EMEA region, business grew by 1.1pc, helped by the acquisition late last year of South Africa based FlavourCraft, according to Kerry Group.

The group recently announced the establishment of a global technology and innovation centre in Ireland to serve the group’s global and regional customers in the EMEA Region.

Kerry is investing €100m in the new centre which will provide strategic customers with access to the group’s complete breadth and depth of technologies, scientific research, innovation and applications expertise across food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets.

The Asia-Pacific region delivered 8.3pc business volume growth in the first nine months of 2012. Dairy systems achieved strong growth through cheese sauce and yoghurt beverage applications and meat technologies grew strongly throughout the region.

Development in the meat and culinary sectors was strengthened on completion of the acquisition of Angsana Food Industries in Malaysia in June and in China in September.

Sorcha Corcoran