Chernogolovka closes deal for purchase of Kraft Heinz baby food business in Russia

MOSCOW. March 19 (Interfax) - The Chernogolovka Group of Companies has closed a deal to purchase the Kraft Heinz baby food business in Russia.

The buyer was Chernogolovka group holding Aqualife Resource JSC, a press release said. Two baby food factories, one in Ivanovo and the other in Georgiyevsk (Stavropol Territory) came with the deal. The transaction amount was not disclosed.

The Ivanovo baby food plant is equipped to produce all categories of baby purees in glass and soft packaging, and produces liquid milk porridges. The plant can produce over 20,000 tonnes of finished products per year on six production lines.

The Georgiyevsky Baby Food Plant (currently Heinz Georgiyevsk LLC) specializes in the production of dry milk and dairy-free porridges, including hypoallergenic variants. The enterprise can produce 12,000 tonnes of finished products per year on two production lines.

Nataliya Sakhnina, general director of the Chernogolovka Group of Companies, said that all jobs at the plants in Ivanovo and Georgievsk would be preserved. Chernogolovka will launch a new brand on the market, which will be presented to partners and retail chains this spring, the press release said. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Chernogolovka will continue to produce products under the Heinz brand for six months following the completion of the transaction.

"Currently, Chernogolovka sees its task as developing its assortment, primarily in the categories of first complementary foods. We also plan to launch the production of children's snacks and an innovative category of ready-to-eat meals. The production of baby food under the Chernogolovka baby brand will also continue, but no longer at co-packing sites, but at our own facilities," Sakhnina said.

Chernogolovka has been in business since 1998, and has been known on the market since that time as a producer of traditional soft drinks and bottled water. The company has been developing new businesses since 2016. It has been represented on the market since 2023 via its three major divisions: beverages, food products and baby food. The group has 15 of its own production facilities.