Olam Food Ingredients to acquire Club Coffee
Club Coffee, one of Canada’s largest private label coffee roasters, will soon have new ownership.
The company has been purchased by Olam Food Ingredients (ofi), a London-based food and beverage ingredient firm. The transaction of $150 million CAD is expected to be completed in Q2 2022.
Founded in 1906, Club Coffee is one of Canada’s largest coffee roasters and packaging solutions providers to the ‘at home’ coffee segment, serving private label customers and retail brands from its facilities in Toronto. Club Coffee leaders have appeared at Store Brands events in the past, including the recent Store Brands Industry Forum on Beverages.
“The ofi acquisition of Club Coffee is great news for our customers, employees and all other stakeholders,” said Club Coffee CEO John Pigott. “ofi's sustainable green coffee supply chain business complements Club Coffee’s innovative and sustainable packaging platform. Together, we now have the capacity and resources to accelerate new comprehensive value-added solutions with the aim of benefitting our customers. We believe we are well-positioned to meet the increasing consumer demand for sustainability and innovation.”
Olam Group, which owns ofi, is a leading food and agri-business supplying food, ingredients, feed and fiber to 20,900 customers worldwide, with a supply chain reaching over 60 countries.
“I am delighted that Club Coffee will soon become part of ofi,” said Vivek Verma, managing director and CEO of coffee at ofi. “Both companies share a focus on high quality sustainable products and have proven capabilities in contract manufacturing and in the high growth private label channel. Increasing our range of private label solutions is right at the heart of ofi’s growth strategy. Combining Club Coffee’s expertise with ofi’s sustainable sourcing, we can use our sustainability insights platform AtSource to deliver product traceability to our customers, as well as giving them the ability to influence the wider economic, social and environmental impacts of our products and their supply chains.”
In a letter to suppliers upon the announcement, Pigott said that he will remain CEO, and that the company will now have more resources and connections to achieve better results.
“Club Coffee will still substantially be Club Coffee, now with the resources and connections to achieve more growth, which means more supplier opportunities,” he wrote. “The acquisition of Club Coffee is fully aligned with their growth strategy for expansion into the private label roast and ground coffee market. Their resources and connections will give us the scale and reach to grow bigger and faster. Ofi sees opportunities in building on Club Coffee’s Canadian base for its product portfolio including cocoa, dairy, nuts, and spices.”