Home / About Us / Our History

Our History

From its origins in the canned food industry, Premier Foods has continually expanded and acquired new brands to the point where we are now the No.1 Food Producer in the UK and our products can now be at the centre of almost every meal in the UK

We became part of the Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Group in 1999 to allow us to grow on a larger scale. The acquisition of Nestlé's UK ambient food business in 2002 brought favourites like Branston, Crosse & Blackwell, Sarson's and Sun Pat into the fold and established Premier Foods as one of the country's leading food manufacturers. This was followed by the acquisition of Ambrosia custard and rice pudding brand in 2003, further enhancing our brand portfolio.

In July 2004, Premier was successfully floated on the London Stock Exchange, with an initial market capitalisation of £526 million.

Since the flotation, we have pursued our strategy of organic branded sales growth combined with improved operating efficiency and further acquisitions. We have continued to re-shape our brand portfolio with the acquisitions of Birds custard and Angel Delight in 2005 to increase our desserts portfolio. In the same year, we became leader in the meat-free market following the acquisition of the meat alternatives Quorn and Cauldron.

2006 saw our most ambitious acquisitions to date. In August, we completed the £460 million acquisition of Campbell’s UK & Irish business, adding OXO, Batchelors, Homepride and Fray Bentos to our product range.

The latest piece of the jigsaw fell into place in March 2007 when Premier Foods completed the £1.2 billion acquisition of RHM along with many of the UK’s best known food brands including Hovis, Sharwoods, Cadbury cakes, Bisto and Mr Kipling.