The Irish Dairy Board announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary Adams Food Ingredients (AFI) Limited, has acquired the business and assets of FoodTec UK Limited, a specialist ingredients business, from Dairy Crest for £1.2 million.

AFI, located in Leek, is a food ingredient powder blending business which specialises in sourcing, formulating, blending and packing food ingredients for UK food manufacturers and nutrition brands.

Commenting on the announcement, Joe Collins, Managing Director of the Irish Dairy Board Dairy Trading & Ingredients division said: ‘The FoodTec acquisition presents exciting opportunities to grow both the AFI and FoodTec businesses in collaboration with both existing and new customers across new products, technologies and processes. The acquisition is also in-line with IDB’s strategy to invest in growth dairy businesses that deliver strong returns to our members, Ireland’s dairy processors and Irish dairy farmers.”

FoodTec is a specialist powder blending ingredients business which focusses on Gluten Free, Bakery and other specialist nutrition products, based in Crewe in the UK.

The Irish Dairy Board (IDB) is an agri-food commercial co-operative which markets and sells dairy products on behalf of its members, Ireland’s dairy processors and the Irish dairy farmer.

The IDB has annualised sales in the region of €2 billion. Headquartered in Dublin, the business employs some 3,000 people globally. It is responsible for exporting circa 60% of Ireland’s dairy products to over 100 countries.