Block of butter on a cutting board. Credit: stockcreations/shutterstock.com

France-based butter supplier Loyez Woessen wants to boost its presence overseas after attracting new investment.

The company is also pushing into cheese and has unveiled a new corporate name – Abondia.

Under 5% of Abondia’s sales are generated outside France, where it packs butter for the country’s grocers. In 2023, the company’s sales were €210m ($230.2m). It declined to comment on its profits.

After securing an undisclosed amount of investment from BNP Paribas Développement, the group is looking to expand in the US and carve out positions in the Middle East and Asia.

BNP Paribas Développement joins a group of investors that includes majority shareholder Sénevé Capital, agri-food fund Unigrains and members of the butter maker’s management.

The terms of BNP Paribas Développement’s investment remain confidential, including from which existing shareholders the bank bought its stake.

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Pascal Jallet, who has joined as Abondia’s CEO, is now an investor as a result of the transaction.

“International expansion is a greenfield development project, starting from scratch,” a Unigrains spokesperson said, pointing to overseas accounting for “less than 5%” of the business.

“As a first step, a commercial office has recently been opened in the United States. The focus in this first phase will be on butter, the group’s historic segment.”

Abondia’s two butter production sites are in France, located in Hauts de France and Loire Atlantique. It employs 120 staff.

The company’s plans for cheese include production in France, with an eye on supplying the country’s major retailers.

Xavier Burette, Abondia’s president, bought into Loyez Woessen alongside Sénevé Capital in 2017. Unigrains joined as an investor four years later.

Burette said: “The reorganization of our capital will bring added value to our growth projects. We are delighted to continue this adventure with Sénevé Capital and Unigrains and to welcome BNP Paribas Développement as a shareholder. This operation reflects our ambition for the development of our company in the coming years.”