UNILEVER TO SELL SEVERAL NORTH AMERICAN BRANDS
By Adnews Staff
Consumer goods company Unilever plans to sell a number of its North American brands and assets from its Unilever Bestfoods portfolio. According to the company, the proposed sale of the brands is consistent with its strategy to focus on a smaller number of brands in clearly defined categories. "The planned sale is a logical step in the process of integrating Unilever and Bestfoods," said Patrick Cescau, food director at Unilever. "The brands identified for sale represent an attractive portfolio but fall outside of our strategy to focus on leading brands such as Ragu, Hellmann's and Lipton." Included in the sale are the company's Mazola cooking oil products, Argo and Kingsford's corn starches, Karo and Golden Griddle syrups, Henri's salad dressing, Rit dye and Niagara starch fabric care products. Canadian brands included in the sale include Canada and Benson's corn starches, St. Lawrence corn oil, Crown and Beehive corn syrups, Old Colony maple syrup and Old Tyme pancake syrup. Unilever also plans to sell associated manufacturing rights, assets and facilities in Argo, Illinois and Indianapolis, Indiana. The company acquired all of these assets when its acquired Bestfoods last fall. The sale is expected to be complete by the end of the year.