Food Concepts Partners Pioneer Foods In South Africa

FOOD Concepts Plc, a market leader in the West African food industry with a basket of top brands, including Chicken Republic, Butterfield Bakery and Free Range Farms, has announced its partnership with Pioneer Foods, a leading South African FMCG company.

Food Concepts Plc was founded by Mr. Deji Akinyanju in 2001.

Speaking on the partnership, CEO Pioneer Foods, Phil Roux, stated that “Butterfield provides an ideal opportunity to leverage our expertise to grow the bread category. Pioneer aims to be a leading FMCG company in Africa and Nigeria is a key market for any food company in search of growth.”

On his part, Chairman of Food Concepts Plc, Akinyanju, said “the partnership will benefit from the combination of the respective strengths which will be used to tap into the vast opportunities in the Nigerian FMCG sector to deliver extraordinary value to customers.”

The company recently demerged its Baked Goods Division into Food Concepts Pioneer Limited (FCPL). Pioneer Foods acquired 50.01 per cent of FCPL while Food Concepts Plc retains 49.9 per cent. FCPL will house Butterfield Bakeries, a baked goods business specialising in bread and sausage roll production. This will allow Pioneer Foods to leverage existing infrastructure and brand recognition — both crucial elements of consumer packaged-goods companies. Pioneer Foods will implement several operational changes to the Butterfield bakery to increase its efficiency and consistency.