The purchase of the Cramlington, Northumberland-based manufacturer will allow SugaRich to leverage Sweetdreams’ experience in repurposing surplus food-grade confectionery to ‘expand its offerings’ and transition away from just producing animal feed.
SugaRich said the mix of Sweetdreams’ established customer base, together with its technical expertise, offered the potential for the large-scale production of a ‘desirable, sustainably manufactured product’ from the combined entity.
‘SugaRich’s evolution’
Alex Keogh, managing director of SugaRich, said: “Our collaboration with Sweetdreams is a key step in SugaRich’s evolution. It was a strategic decision for us to marry our skills and attributes not only to progress our market position in the food sector, but to also expand on the clearly obvious potential of Sweetdreams’ innovative offering.
“Furthermore, Sweetdreams’ re-use of surplus food clearly aligns with SugaRich’s established practice and ethos – this now positions us to allow our many suppliers to take advantage of recycling their offcuts and surplus into high quality confectionery products that are affordable and sustainable.”
SugaRich hoped to follow the acquisition with further collaborations that will support the elimination of food waste, going so far as to develop systems to align with changing surplus food market trends.
‘Release our full potential’
Sweetdreams managing director Matt Stephenson added: “Becoming part of the SugaRich family allows us to release the full potential of our range of products, offer our suppliers a unique and innovative solution to reduce surplus food waste, while benefiting from a significant increase in commercial return.
“Alex and his team have seen the fantastic work that Sweetdreams has achieved as an independent confectionery manufacturer. SugaRich's acquisition will allow us the financial and operational support to make 'Choc Nibbles' the number one, value chocolate confectionery range in the UK and beyond."
Meanwhile, Italian Beverage Company (IBC Simply) has acquired March Foods in a move that will see the two coming together under a new parent group, Delightful Food Group.