Associated British Foods
Associated British Foods PLC () is a
British multinational with a multi-billion pound turnover. The company has diverse food manufacturing interests and a secondary business in fashion retailing. It is headquartered in
Knightsbridge,
London,
England, and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 index.
ABF was incorporated in 1935. It was initially a baker, and it invented the concept of selling pre-prepared
sliced bread in the 1930s. It has bought and sold many businesses around the world over the decades, including the British supermarket chain
Fine Fare. ABF's current brands include Allison, Sunblest and Kingsmill bread,
Ovaltine,
Ryvita, Nelsons jam and
Twinings tea. The group's subsidiaries include
British Sugar plc (bought in 1991), flour milling group Allied Mills, animal foodstuffs company Allied Grain and food ingredients company Abitec Corporation. It also owns a discount clothing retailer,
Primark (
Penneys in the
Republic of Ireland).
The company formerly owned the
Burtons Biscuits brand which it sold in 2000 to a private equity firm and is now part of
Burtons Foods.
In 1997 ABF sold its Irish operations to
Tesco. These businesses were;
Quinnsworth and
Crazy Prices in the
Republic of Ireland and
Stewarts Supermarkets Ltd and Crazy Prices in
Northern Ireland, the
Stewarts Winebarrel off-licence chain,
Lifestyle Sports & Leisure Ltd. (a retail sports and leisure business), Kingsway Fresh Foods (a meat processing facility) and Daily Wrap Produce (a fruit and vegetable packaging plant).
The company sells its products throughout the world, with two thirds of its turnover coming from Europe. Its turnover for the year ended 17 September 2005 was £5.622 billion, and profit after taxation was £348 million.
The company was developed by Canadian businessman,
W. Garfield Weston, in tandem with his North American operations,
George Weston Ltd.. Following the death of the founder in 1978, control of ABF was passed on to his son
Garry, while the North American operations fell to his son
Galen. While Garry maintained the company's prominence in the European foods market, ABF's growth has been eclipsed by the phenomenal performance of
George Weston Ltd..
George G. Weston of the British Westons became chief executive of ABF on
1 April 2005, and
Galen Weston, the chief executive of George Weston Ltd, is a
non-executive director.
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