Vibrant Foods, the new UK-based ethnic foods company established last month by Exponent Private Equity, has acquired local peer Cofresh Snack Foods (CSF) for an undisclosed sum.

Established in 1974 and now a second-generation family business, CSF, based in Leicester in the English Midlands, is made up of two brands: Cofresh, the Indian snack brand which manufactures more than 200 traditional Indian savoury products; and Eat Real, healthier snacks focusing on the free-from allergens market. 

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The Patel family, CSF’s selling shareholders, will be re-investing in Vibrant Foods with a minority equity stake.

As of 2019, CSF had annual retail sales of around GBP75m (US$93.3m).

The creation of Vibrant Foods was unveiled last month, when the merger of two investor-backed, UK-based suppliers of Asian-style foods, TRS Foods and East End Foods, was announced. Vibrant Foods is led by a team of experienced food-industry executives, including Rohit Samani and Umesh Parmar as chairman and chief executive, respectively. They are both former CEOs of Tilda Rice.

Speaking about the Cofresh deal, Samani said: “We are very pleased to welcome Cofresh Snack Foods to Vibrant Foods. Its broad range of authentic and high-quality snacks complements our existing product offering of South Asian staples, and further cements our position as one of the leading South Asian foods producer in Europe. 

“The Eat Real brand provides us with a bridgehead into a customer base of health-conscious mainstream consumers, for whom our broad range of pulses is an ideal source of plant-based protein.”

Priyesh Patel, managing director of Cofresh Snack Foods, said: “Becoming part of Vibrant Foods is opening up an exciting new chapter in our history. There are tremendous growth opportunities for our sector, as popularity for both ethnic and healthy snacking products continues to grow.”