Seven years after its acquisition by the Icelandic group Alfesca, and on-sale in 2012 to the cooperative Lur-Berri, the frozen food factory of Labeyrie in the French city of Castelsarrasin is changing hands again.
Japanese food giant Ajinomoto has just got its hands on Labeyrie Traiteur Surgelés (LTS). LTS is a frozen foods operating subsidiary of Labeyrie Fine Foods (LFF), which mainly manufactures and sells chilled foods such as foie gras and smoked salmon.
According to Ladepeche, the price is about €20m. The company currently has 316 employees in two factories, one in Neubourg and the other one in Castelsarrasin.
Last year the 163 employees at the Castelsarrasin plant feared that their site would be shut down, due to a large number of mistakes by management. Since 2010, the group has lost €25m.
With a turnover of nearly €8bn, employing 31,000 employees at 128 sites and a presence in 130 countries, this new major shareholder should enable the LTS group to open up new markets for the company, especially in Japan.
