Swiss-Irish food group Aryzta has more than doubled its manufacturing capacity in Malaysia.
The company exercised its option to acquire the bakery, equipment and the corresponding land of its co-manufacturer De-Luxe Food Services from Envictus International Holdings in an asset deal.
The option to acquire the assets was part of the original agreement with Envictus. The current bakery in Bangi will be closed and sold, while no relevant restructuring or impairment charges will be triggered.
Aryzta owns the Cuisine de France label here and supplies the likes of McDonalds and Subway. The transaction will expand its Asian product capability in breads, buns and pastries including new product filling capacity.
The company said this will “greatly enhance” the pace of new product development and innovation. South East Asia is a fast growing market for bakery which is forecast to grow by about 7-8 per cent out to 2026.
“The addition of this new well-invested, Halal certified bakery, will enable Aryzta to meet its growing customer demands in the food service and QSR channels in Malaysia and also expand its exports to other Asian markets,” it said.
“The transaction significantly improves the resilience of Aryzta’s supply chain in the region with the direct ownership of this new modern facility.”
Separately, on a Group level, Aryzta confirmed that pricing discussions to date are progressing well and that it is on track to reach its communicated objectives. It will issue first half results on March 14th.
Aryzta interim chief executive Urs Jordi said: "We are pleased to report on our strategic expansion in the growing Asian bakery market.
“This expansion is strengthening our relevant position in Food Service and QSR in this region. Our work on inflation price recovery is on track while continuing to focus on disciplined cost management to deliver improved performance.”
