Unilever has offloaded its pasta sauce retail range in Germany to Italian food producer Casalasco Group.
The consumer goods giant said the Tomato al Gusto and Speciale al Gusto range has been available on German supermarket shelves under the Knorr brand for more than 20 years.
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Unilever did not disclose the sale price for the assets and said in a statement that the disposal aligns with its strategy to focus the company’s food portfolio on “core segments”.
In November, Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher announced plans to divest £1bn ($1.2bn) worth of brands.
As part of the latest deal, Casalasco will have exclusive rights to use the Knorr brand for this range for a transitional period of 12 months, while Unilever retains ownership of the Knorr brand itself.
The transfer of the product range is set to take effect on 1 March.
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By GlobalDataThe pasta sauces are part of a premium tomato product range, featuring various plant-based recipes, including a ready-to-use carbonara variant, and are available in 370g or 500g packs.
Casalasco, which owns brands such as Pomì, Pomito, and De Rica, specialises in tomato products. In 2023, the group business achieved a turnover of €630m ($649.6m) and an EBITDA of €81.1m.
Unilever’s Food Solutions, or out-of-home business, in Germany is not “affected” by the transaction with Casalasco, the company said.
Other Unilever assets have also recently been sold under Schumacher’s streamlining policy,
In December, the company revealed it had received a binding offer from Zwanenberg Food Group, a Dutch producer of meat, snacks and soups, to acquire the Unox and Zwan food brands.
Unox, known for prepared soups and noodles, and Zwan, a canned-meat brand, have been part of Unilever’s line-up for nearly a century.
The developments follow Unilever’s sale of its Dutch Conimex brand, known for meal-maker kits, soups and sauces, to Finnish food and beverage company Paulig.
The Conimex deal involved the transfer of the brand, along with its associated business, trademarks and intellectual property.
