Pattyn seeks to enhance frozen bread sector presence with acquisition
Stan Pattyn, sales and project director at the Bruges based company, said that frozen bread manufacturers are set to gain from the alliance of core competencies in automated and semi-automated control and packaging of bulk products into lined cases.
“Producers can leverage the greater scope of the combined businesses and ensure continuity of their packaging line,” he said.
He said that a fundamental driver of the company’s growth strategy was to increase its customer base in the frozen bread industry to capitalize on the buoyancy and recent consolidation in the segment.
Speaking to BakeryandSnacks.com today he said: “There have been numerous acquisitions of late on the customer side, leaving only a few dominant players in the frozen dough and parbaked arena. In order to compete with other suppliers and to be able to meet that scale of manufacture, we have to strengthen our operations and services.
De La Ballina’s appeal for Pattyn lay in its expertise in providing vision-led quality control prior to the packaging stage of the frozen baguettes or dough.”
He said that the French company will remain a stand alone firm and will project manage all bread and pastry packaging projects for the group.
Pattyn has recently set up a sales office in North America to increase its presence in that particular region, added the sales and project director.
With the majority stake in De La Ballina, packaging lines for frozen bread will represent one third of its business, equipment for fats and oils another third and packaging for additional categories including meat, fish and fresh produce will constitute the remainder, said Pattyn.
