PepsiCo is selling the rights to the Marmite and Bovril spreads brands in South Africa to Anchor Yeast, part of the Lallemand group in Canada.
The deal, which is expected to close in the final quarter of the year, also includes the Savoury Foods Ingredients unit owned by PepsiCo’s division in South Africa.
Financial terms for the transaction, which is subject to competition approval in South Africa, have not been disclosed.
While FMCG giant Unilever is the global owner of the Marmite and Bovril brands, PepsiCo inherited the licence for the South African market when it completed the acquisition of locally-based Pioneer Foods in 2020.
Pioneer Foods, which remains a subsidiary of PepsiCo, obtained the licence when it bought the Johannesburg-based Savoury Foods Ingredients business from Unilever’s joint venture with Best Foods and Robertsons in 2004, a spokesperson for the US-based snacks and drinks giant confirmed.
Riaan Heyl, the CEO of PepsiCo’s South Africa division, said: “The sale of the Savoury Food Ingredients business unit is in line with the company’s vision to win in the marketplace with a simplified and focused product portfolio.
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“We feel Anchor Yeast’s expertise in this sector makes it well placed to take on and further develop this opportunity.”
Marmite and Bovril are sold in South African retailers and also through wholesalers in the informal market. The ingredients unit also supplies products such as yeast extract and flavourings to local food manufacturers.
Meanwhile, a selection of PepsiCo’s other brands marketed in South Africa include White Star maize meal, Sasko flour, Simba snacks, Bokomo and Weet-Bix breakfast cereals and Lay’s crisps.
Lallemand is a family-owned diversified business headquartered in Montreal with operations across bakery, brewing yeast, animal nutrition, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The company has more than 50 production plants.
Anchor Yeast was acquired by Lallemand in 2006 and supplies yeast to the consumer, bakery and brewing channels.
Its CEO Antoine Chagnon said: “The addition of the Marmite and Bovril brands will be highly complementary to our Anchor Yeast consumer product offering and existing business with South Africa’s leading retail outlets.
“This Savoury Food Ingredients business unit is also complementary to the taste and savoury solutions offered by Lallemand Bio-Ingredient’s business to its global food manufacturing customers.”
