Associated British Foods

Associated British Foods plc is a British multinational food, ingredients and retail group with sales of £6.0 billion and over 75,000 employees in 46 countries. It is headquartered in London, England, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.

History

The company was developed by Canadian businessman, W. Garfield Weston, in tandem with his North American operations, George Weston Ltd.. ABF was incorporated in 1935. It was initially a bakery business, and it promoted the concept of selling sliced bread in the 1930s. The group's subsidiaries include British Sugar plc (bought in 1991), flour milling group Allied Mills, animal foodstuffs company Allied Grain and food ingredients company Abitec Corporation. It also owns a discount clothing retailer, Primark (Penneys in the Republic of Ireland). Current brands of ABF subsidiaries include Allison, Sunblest and Kingsmill bread, Silver Spoon, Ovaltine, Ryvita, Mazola oil and Twinings tea.

Following the death of the founder in 1978, control of ABF was passed on to his son Garry, while the North American operations fell to his son Galen. While Garry maintained the company's prominence in the European foods market, ABF's growth has been eclipsed by the phenomenal performance of George Weston Ltd.. George G. Weston of the British Westons became chief executive of ABF on 1 April 2005, and Galen Weston, the chief executive of George Weston Ltd, is a non-executive director. Garth Weston is Regional President of AB Mauri.

The company formerly owned the Burtons Biscuits brand which it sold in 2000 to a private equity firm and is now part of Burtons Foods.

In 1997 ABF sold its retail operations in Northern Ireland and the Republic to Tesco. These businesses were: Quinnsworth and Crazy Prices in the Republic of Ireland and Stewarts Supermarkets Ltd and Crazy Prices in Northern Ireland, the Stewarts Winebarrel off-licence chain, Lifestyle Sports & Leisure Ltd. (a retail sports and leisure business), Kingsway Fresh Foods (a meat processing facility) and Daily Wrap Produce (a fruit and vegetable packaging plant).

In May 2007 the group purchased Patak's Indian food business.

People

• Guy Weston

Brands

• Allinson
• Kingsmill
• Mazola oil
• Ovaltine
• Ryvita
• Silver Spoon
• Sunblest
• Twinings
• Patak's

Subsidiary companies

• Abitec Corporation
• Allied Grain
• Allied Mills
• British Sugar plc - bought in 1991
• G Costa - sauces and ethic (ie - non-UK) brands
• Primark - known as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland)

Affiliations

• Food and Drink Federation

External links

• Official site
• ACCC v George Weston Foods Limited - Court Warns of Dangers of Not Having a Compliance Culture