Vandemoortele: Acquires Italian Dolciaria Acquaviva

Ghent / BE. (vmg) Vandemoortele NV, a leading European family-owned food group with a well established Italian presence, announces the acquisition of Dolciaria Acquaviva Spa, a renowned manufacturer of frozen Pastry, Patisserie, and Savoury specialties. The Belgian food group will acquire the Company from Apheon, a pan-European mid-market private equity firm and from the Acquaviva family. Pierluigi Acquaviva has successfully led the extraordinary development of the Company and will continue to be part of the future of Acquaviva as Chairman of the Board of Directors. With this acquisition, Vandemoortele fortifies its position as a key player in the Italian frozen bakery market and further accelerates its path for growth, leveraging its established reputation and robust brand portfolio and offering its customers unparalleled quality and innovation across a larger set of categories: Bread, Savoury specialties, Pastry and Patisserie.

(Photo: Vandemoortele NV)

Founded in 1979 by the Acquaviva Family as an artisanal laboratory of Napolitan specialties, the Company has become a leading frozen bakery manufacturer in Italy with a widespread product portfolio across Sweet Pastry, Patisserie, Savoury specialties, recognized as one of the most innovative players in the sector. The Company, headquartered in Gricignano d’Aversa (Caserta) with a turnover of around 120 millions euro in 2023 and over 200 employees, operates through four industrial plants in Italy and serves more than 40.000 customers daily across Italy in the HoReCa channel with its top quality products.

«We are happy to welcome Dolciaria Acquaviva into the Vandemoortele family», said Jean Vandemoortele, Chairman of the Board of Vandemoortele. «This strategic acquisition strengthens our market presence in Italy and aligns with our vision of providing exceptional products and experiences to our customers.»

Yvon Guérin, CEO of Vandemoortele, says: «We will combine our strengths and expertise to drive continued growth. This combination will allow us to create powerful synergies in terms of product portfolio, brands, innovation and distribution in one of the countries where Vandemoortele has been active for some time and which makes a substantial contribution to the group’s total turnover.»

«The Italian team and I are particularly proud of this agreement», said Sabine Sagaert, Managing Director Bakery Products, «as we appreciate the strong entrepreneurial spirit of Acquaviva and the real passion for quality and innovation. We are highly complementary and will be able to offer customers a wider range of high quality products across sweet and savoury Pastry, Patisserie, Bread specialties, Pizza and Focaccia.»

Pierluigi Acquaviva, founder of the Company, commented: «We are very happy about the combination of Acquaviva and Vandemoortele in Italy as it will give exciting opportunities to our Italian customers and partners and employees.» The transaction should be concluded soon.