Unilever announced that it has sold its Italian Frozen Foods business, Findus, to a company in which Birds Eye Iglo has a stake, for €805 million. The sale includes the following brands; 4 Salti in Padella, Sofficini, Capitan Findus and That's Amore. The deal also included a dedicated factory in Cisterna, Italy. Under the deal, approximately 650 employees will transfer to the new owner.

Unilever PLC is one of the parent companies of the consumer goods supplier, Unilever Group. Unilever has a strong and well differentiated portfolio of 400 global and regional brands operating across 14 categories of home, personal care and foods products. Unilever offers its products under four business segments namely, Personal Care; Home Care; Savoury, Dressings & Spreads; and Ice Cream & Beverages. Key brands of the company include Knorr, Hellmann's, Lipton, Wall's / Algida (Heartbrand), Becel / Flora (Healthy Heart), Rama / Blue Band (Family Goodness), Omo, Lux, Dove, Rexona (including Sure and Degree) and Axe / Lynx.

The global market for frozen foods is projected to reach US$136.5 billion by 2015, registering a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.7% during the period 2006-2015. The market for frozen foods is estimated at US$113.1 billion in 2010. Brand popularity and recognition in the frozen foods category could not translate into assured growth in the recent years. Recessionary trends did not spare even hitherto successful categories, such as pizza, with sales growth witnessing declines. Home food consumption increased and this is benefited certain categories of frozen foods, while some foods that were considered unnecessary for consumption were eliminated from meal rosters. Market shift towards private label products is also observed in the recent past.

Author: Paul Chapman, Analyst