In association with
RTV Utrecht
NOS News•today, 3:36 PM
If the Consumer and Markets Authority grants approval, the Belgian cheese producer St. Paul will take over the Dutch cheese spread maker ERU.
With the acquisition, St. Paul wants to reach a broader audience. The company now mainly produces cheese for other companies. Royal ERU mainly focuses its tubs on consumers in the supermarket.
It is still unclear whether the takeover will have consequences for the staff of both cheesemakers.
St. Paul has been around since 1985 and in recent years has mainly focused on supplying cheese to other companies such as pizza makers. In 2016, things went so well that St. Paul built a large head office in the Zeeland village of Sint Jansteen, just across the Belgian border in the Netherlands. Last year the company started a collaboration with ERU from Woerden. Now the cheese giant wants to acquire all shares of ERU.
Cheese remains
Royal ERU celebrates its bicentennial this year and was founded in 1824 by Egbert Ruijs, after whom the company is named. Ruijs started in Woerden with slicing cheeses and cheeses, reports RTV Utrecht. Later the company used cheese residues to make cheese spreads and the cheese spread factory was opened in 1938. Ultimately, the company focused almost exclusively on the production of cheese spread. The first ‘Goudkuipje’ appeared in 1959, for which ERU obtained a patent on the aluminum packaging.
Royal ERU sees the acquisition as a way to bring more products to the market. CEO Maurits Sandberg: “We are very excited about the opportunities to further grow our brands and explore new markets.”
Historic step
Chairman of the Board Dieter Kuijl of St. Paul speaks to Omroep Zeeland about a historic step for his company. According to him, this step will make St. Paul the largest (processed) cheese producer in the Benelux. “We are committed to further developing and expanding our diverse offering of high-quality (processed) cheese products to meet the diverse needs of consumers.”
If the ACM agrees, the companies will continue to operate under their own names.
