Flora Food Group, the plant-based food business formerly known as Upfield, has acquired a facility in the US.

The Netherlands-based company has snapped up a manufacturing site located in Hugoton, Kansas.

The facility will serve as the hub for Flora Food Group’s creams and cream cheeses products for the US and Canada and across the rest of the Americas region over time, according to the group.

The group's existing facility site in Texas, located in the town of New Century, will continue to serve as the US hub for Flora Food Group’s butter and spreads products.

“With the acquisition of this new facility, we are thrilled to have a unique opportunity to expand our creams business,” said Jim Breach, president of Flora Food Group’s North American business. 

“Building on the existing, state-of-the-art infrastructure and trained workforce residing in the local community, we look forward to bringing more folks into the Flora Food Group family as well as continuing to produce our kitchen and pantry staple items here in America’s heartland and across our broader Americas region.”

The acquisition marks the company’s 15th manufacturing site across five continents, employing circa 4,800 people. In 2023, Flora Food Group reported net sales of €3.3bn ($3.67bn).

As well as Flora, the group owns brands including BlueBand, Country Crock, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Rama and Violife.

It described the name change “is a substantial step in the company’s evolution and follows a performance-driven transformation on multiple levels”.

Earlier this year, the group led a new cash injection in Spain’s Heura Foods. The Barcelona-based company said $40m funding would “drive the company to profitability and fortify its position as an industry frontrunner”.