Sofina Foods, Eight Fifty Group become one of largest multi-protein producers in Europe

Sofina Foods, a producer of pork, beef, turkey and chicken products, is adding seafood to its roster. The privately owned Canadian company is taking on the seafood and pork supplier Eight Fifty Group through a sale managed by CapVest Partners.

Sofina Foods and Eight Fifty Group both produce for private brands and their own brands. Sofina is one of Canada’s largest food producers, operating 21 different sites. Eight Fifty Group is a large processor of products across the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the seafood division is the largest provider of chilled and frozen products across the United Kingdom, and is a major producer of frozen seafood products across Germany.

Capvest acquired Karro Food Group, a leader in pork processing, four years ago, as well as Young’s Seafood. Eight Fifty Group consolidated five other protein businesses from across Europe to create the company today. With the addition of Eight Fifty, the two companies will now operate across 23 manufacturing sites. Eight Fifty will remain under the leadership of Di Walker and will complement Sofina Food’s existing leading North American platform. 

“We’ve created a leading European multi-protein business through a combination of strategic investment in our core asset base and complementary acquisitions of fantastic national champions,” said Jason Rodrigues, partner at CapVest. “Eight Fifty delivers best-in-class products to our customers and consumers and we are all very proud of what Di Walker and her team have achieved over the last four years.  We’re confident that Eight Fifty will continue to flourish under Sofina Food’s ownership.”

The new company will have more than 13,000 employees globally across 44 sites and nearly $6 billion in annual revenue.

“As a leading Canadian multi-protein specialist, this acquisition allows Sofina Foods to continue on our path of ambitious expansion. Sofina Foods is one of Canada’s largest food producers and we have created a solid global foundation for continued growth,” said Michael Latifi, founder and executive chair of Sofina Foods. “With a history of excellence in food production and processing spanning over 25 years, the strong brands of Eight Fifty Food Group align perfectly with our prominent brands and our shared future vision."