Fehr foods: a step forward in Nutresa’s expansion plan

Abstract

In 2009, Grupo Nutresa, Colombia’s largest food company set an ambitious and challenging growth plan for the years to come -- Bearing in mind the competitiveness and potential of its business units overseas, since the year 2000 the company defined the internationalization process as a key objective for its business model development and sustainable growth (Grupo Nutresa, Informe anual y de sostenibilidad, 2013) -- As part of it, the Americas were defined as the strategic region to continue on with its market enlargement and penetration plan -- In 2009, the Investment Banking Firm McColl Partner, LLC (which had recently carried out an investment process for Grupo Nutresa’s sister company, Grupo Argos), came into contact with Nutresa suggesting them the acquisition of Fehr Foods, a leading value-priced retail packaged cookie manufacturing company in the U.S. -- Known today as Abimar Foods, this acquisition was consistent with the company’s previously defined expansion plan to enter the U.S. market -- According to Grupo Nutresa Biscuits Business Unit perspective, it was aligned with their management and business policies, and their sales were supported through a local facility (Grupo Nutresa, personal communication, April, 25th, 2015) -- The purchasing process was relatively quick and in 2010 Fehr Foods was incorporated to Grupo Nutresa Biscuits Business Unit. About a year later, Mr. 4M, who was the financial manager of the Cookies Business, was designated as Fehr Foods’ CEO