Kettle Foods Ltd. acquires UK popcorn manufacturer Cornpoppers

Kettle Foods Ltd is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Cornpoppers Ltd – a UK popcorn producer based in Wednesbury in the West Midlands.

Cornpoppers Ltd was established in 1979 and is a privately owned family business supplying high quality branded and private label popcorn products to retailers and wholesalers.

The UK popcorn market remains one of the fastest growing categories within the UK snack food industry, growing by 10% over the last year as consumers increasingly seek out lighter snacking options.

In 2016 Kettle Foods Ltd completed its acquisition of Metcalfe’s skinny popcorn® - joining the UK’s favourite premium chips with another leading premium brand – reflecting the company’s ambition to build a portfolio of snack brands and evolve into a more widely based premium snacking leader in Europe. The team at Kettle Foods continue to be excited by the growth of the popcorn category in the UK and recognise the importance that customers place on differentiated brand positioning, excellent product quality and reliable customer service.

The addition of Cornpoppers to the Kettle Foods’ family represents a further commitment to meet the high expectations of customers and consumers alike, and to the long term future of the popcorn category.

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Ashley Hicks, Kettle Foods Managing Director (left), together with Balvinder Nijjar (right), the previous owner of Cornpoppers.

“The acquisition of Cornpoppers Ltd is the next exciting step in our transition to build Kettle Foods into a dynamic European snack foods business.”

“We’re confident that this will create more opportunities with our trade partners in jointly evolving the full potential of the popcorn category and look forward to welcoming the team at Cornpoppers to Kettle Foods and working with them on making great tasting popcorn.”

“With the support and expertise of the Kettle Foods’ team, I am delighted about the opportunity for Cornpoppers to expand and bring our snacking talents together.”