Midsona AB, formerly Midelfart Sonesson AB, is a Swedish company that has strategically acquired plant-based companies in recent years. The company is to strengthen its plant-based focus through an investment of around 4.5M Euros in recently acquired Spanish brand Vegetalia, whose Barcelona plant will become its vegan hub.
The facility will see increased production of meat alternatives such as plant-based chicken, fish, and other meat alternative products, as well as Vegetalia’s current lines including tofu, tempeh, seitan, burgers, in the coming year.
Following completion of the investment, the Vegetalia production unit will become the centre of Midsona Group’s plant products centre and will produce for the rest of the group’s divisions, from end of 2021.
“The investment means that we can increase production capacity and expand the range of products towards more advanced products, which is why we have chosen to invest in our existing production unit in Castellcir. This unit has very good conditions for product development and a suitable geographical location for expansion both nationally and in Europe. We hope to be able to double sales of alternative meat products through this investment,” said Peter Åsberg, CEO of Midsona to Financial Food.
Strategic plant-based investments since 2016
In 2016, Midsona started to strategically acquire companies from the plant-based sector when it acquired Internatural AB, which owns the Kung Markatta brand, a producer of plant-based products such as tofu, tempeh, veggie burgers and plant-based milk. To date, this acquisition is considered the Nordic giant’s largest.
Two years later, Midsona acquired Davert, a leader in the German organic food market and producer of various oat, quinoa and lentil-based vegan alternatives. The total purchase price is estimated at €48.5 million. Already in 2019, 23.7% of Midsona’s turnovers were generated in Germany, largely due to the acquisition of the Davert brand.
In October 2019, Midsona completed the acquisition of Alimentation Santé for €57.5 million, a leading player in plant-based food in France and Spain. Continuing its acquisition strategy in 2020, Midsona took over Danish company System Frugt A/S, a leading Nordic provider of plant-based products with its brand Earth Control. Midsona’s brand portfolio further includes Swedish startup Ekko, producing innovative plant-based frozen products, as reported by Organic-Market Info.
Apart from its strong presence in Germany, Midsona generated 73.5% of its turnover in Scandinavian countries in 2019. including Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, according to data from Market Screener.
