Unilever slims food unit with auction of The Vegetarian Butcher
Unilever, the FTSE 100 consumer goods giant, has put its plant-based food range The Vegetarian Butcher up for sale as it streamlines its focus on to international megabrands.
Sky News has learnt that Unilever is working with Piper Sandler, on a plan to offload The Vegetarian Butcher just six years after buying it.
Industry sources said a number of potential buyers had already been approached to gauge their appetite for a deal.
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The Vegetarian Butcher was created in 2007 by Jaap Korteweg, a ninth-generation livestock farmer who had converted to vegetarianism.
Its products are sold by supermarkets including Ocado, Sainsbury's and Tesco, and it is said by insiders to be recording strong growth in sales volumes.
The Vegetarian Butcher's likely valuation in a sale was unclear on Tuesday.
The prospective sale of the brand comes at a challenging time for meat alternatives, with plant-based food companies having attracted billions of dollars in funding in recent years.
Last week, Hein Schumacher, Unilever's chief executive since last year, told investors that he wanted to "prune" the company's vast portfolio of food brands.
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In total, the brands he has identified as candidates to offload generate roughly £1bn in annual sales.
Its ice cream division, which includes Magnum and Ben & Jerry's, will also be separated, although through a public listing rather than a sale.
Unilever declined to comment.
