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340860
Thu, 09/11/2014 - 01:50
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Ajinomoto to Buy U.S. Frozen Foods Maker

Tokyo, Sept. 10 (Jiji Press)--Ajinomoto Co. <2802> said Wednesday that it will buy U.S. frozen foods maker Windsor Quality Holdings LP for about 800 million dollars in November. By utilizing Windsor's production bases and distribution network, Ajinomoto aims to beef up sales of its frozen food products in the United States, where Japanese and other Asian foods are increasingly popular because they are considered healthy. Windsor's sausage business is not subject to the acquisition. Ajinomoto currently sells such products as frozen "gyoza" dumplings and fried noodles in North America, generating sales of some 13.5 billion yen annually. With the acquisition, the company aims to boost the annual sales figure to 100 billion yen by fiscal 2020. The North American frozen food market totals about 40 billion dollars a year and is growing steadily, according to the Japanese food maker. Sales of Japanese and other Asian frozen foods in the region are growing at an annual pace of more than 5 pct, Ajinomoto said. At a press conference, Ajinomoto President Masatoshi Ito said the company's products are popular in North America as they are healthy and high in quality. "We can grow further by utilizing Windsor's sales network," he said. Windsor President Greg Geib said at the same press conference that the company hopes to enhance the quality of its products by introducing Ajinomoto's product development capabilities and its advanced production technologies. Houston-based Windsor has business transactions with 80,000 retail shops and 120,000 restaurants. Its sales, excluding those from the sausage business, stood at some 670 million dollars in 2013. END

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