Flora Food Group
Corporate brand
UnclaimedFlora Food Group is a Dutch food company focused on margarine, food spreads, cooking products, and plant-based foods.
Last updated October 16, 2026
Overview
Flora Food Group is a privately owned Dutch food company whose portfolio includes margarine, bread spreads, cooking products, dairy alternatives, and plant-based foods. The business is best known through brands such as Flora, Blue Band, Country Crock, Rama, Becel, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, ProActiv, Lätta, Stork, and Violife. It operates across a large international footprint, with the company describing itself as active in 95 countries and as one of the world's largest plant-based consumer packaged-goods businesses. The company's modern corporate history begins with Unilever's former spreads and margarine division. The category has much older roots in the Netherlands: Antoon Jurgens acquired Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès's margarine-making patent in 1871, and Jurgens's business later became part of Margarine Unie. Margarine Unie merged with Lever Brothers to form Unilever in 1929. Over subsequent decades, Unilever assembled a broad collection of margarine, spread, cooking-fat, and food brands in numerous national markets. By the early twenty-first century, the division faced structural pressure. Consumers in several markets increasingly returned to butter, while margarine sales declined. The source material describes a 6% fall in margarine sales during the five years preceding 2014, alongside a 7% rise in butter sales. Following pressure on Unilever to improve returns after Kraft Heinz's unsuccessful 2017 takeover approach, Unilever placed its spreads division up for sale. The process attracted several private-equity bidders and resulted in an agreement with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, commonly known as KKR, for €6.8 billion. The transaction closed in July 2018, creating an independent company initially named Upfield. The reported purchase price was approximately US$8.04 billion, although the euro-denominated transaction value is the figure associated with the sale agreement. After the separation, the company sought to reposition itself around plant-based eating rather than relying solely on traditional margarine. This strategy included increased emphasis on plant-based nutrition and sustainability, investment in research and development, and the acquisition of Violife in January 2020. Violife expanded the portfolio into vegan cheese and helped give the business a stronger presence in dairy alternatives. The company also announced a €50 million investment in a plant-based research and development facility intended to open at the end of 2021. The transition involved operational restructuring. The former Purfleet-on-Thames factory in the United Kingdom was closed after the spin-off, with approximately 200 employees made redundant. Production changes also affected sites in Helsingborg, Sweden, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. In 2021, the company acquired Unilever's Cali, Colombia, production facility, which made products including Rama, Violife, and Blue Band. These moves reflected attempts to consolidate manufacturing and align production with the group's evolving portfolio. The company renamed itself Flora Food Group in September 2024. The new name draws on one of its best-known international brands while presenting the organization as a broader food group rather than only a margarine company. Its current portfolio spans conventional and plant-based spreads, cooking creams, cream alternatives, vegan cheese, chocolate spread, and regionally specific products. The business remains privately held under KKR ownership, and no public stock listing or ticker is identified in the supplied reference material.
History
Flora Food Group's roots lie in the nineteenth-century development of margarine in the Netherlands. In 1871, Antoon Jurgens of Oss acquired the patent for producing margarine from its inventor, Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès. Jurgens's enterprise later became part of Margarine Unie, which merged with Lever Brothers in 1929 to create Unilever. The resulting multinational company continued to develop and acquire margarine, spreads, cooking fats, and related food brands across Europe and other markets. For much of the twentieth century, margarine was a major consumer-food category. Unilever's portfolio eventually included brands that would later become associated with Flora Food Group, including Flora, Blue Band, Becel, Country Crock, Rama, Stork, Lätta, and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! The portfolio was adapted to different national markets and included both household spreads and products designed for cooking or baking. The division encountered increasing pressure in the early twenty-first century as some consumers moved from margarine back to butter. The supplied reference material reports that margarine sales fell by 6% in the five years leading up to 2014, while butter sales increased by 7%. After Kraft Heinz made an unsuccessful approach to acquire Unilever in February 2017, Unilever chief executive Paul Polman promised investors improved returns. In April 2017, Unilever announced that its margarine and spreads division would be sold, with proceeds intended to support shareholder returns. The proposed sale produced strong interest from private-equity firms, including Apollo Global Management, CVC Capital Partners, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Bain Capital, and KKR. Unilever selected KKR's offer of €6.8 billion in December 2017. The deal closed in July 2018, separating the spreads operation from Unilever. The new company was named Upfield and became privately owned by investment funds controlled by KKR. The brands included in the transaction represented roughly 7% of Unilever's global business. David Haines, who was also a non-executive director of Imperial Brands, became chief executive in July 2018. Following the separation, Upfield increasingly presented itself as a plant-based food company. The strategic shift responded both to the decline of conventional margarine and to rising interest in vegan and plant-based diets. In January 2020, the company acquired Violife, a Greek plant-based cheese brand. The acquisition extended the portfolio beyond spreads into a rapidly growing dairy-alternative segment. Upfield also announced a €50 million investment in a plant-based research and development facility planned for completion at the end of 2021. The company's manufacturing network was restructured during this period. The Purfleet-on-Thames factory in the United Kingdom closed after the spin-off, resulting in approximately 200 redundancies. In Sweden, Upfield announced in 2020 that production would be moved away from Helsingborg; cheese and dairy-product production was intended to transfer to Kleve, Germany, by February 2021, while around 80 employees were notified of termination. In March 2021, the company announced the planned closure of its Rotterdam factory in mid-2022. In November 2021, it acquired Unilever's Cali, Colombia, plant, which produced Rama, Violife, and Blue Band. These actions combined capacity reduction in some locations with selective acquisition of manufacturing assets. Product formulation also evolved. Flora Buttery in the United Kingdom temporarily included buttermilk from 2020, making that version non-vegan, before buttermilk was removed in October 2023. Palm oil was also removed from the product at that time according to the supplied reference. In February 2025, Helsingborgs Dagblad reported that the Helsingborg site would close after nearly 50 years, transferring its remaining production to other European facilities. The site had produced Lätta, Becel, and Flora since opening in 1968 and had employed about 500 people at its peak. In September 2024, Upfield was renamed Flora Food Group. The change connected the corporate identity to Flora, one of its most recognizable brands, while signaling a wider focus on plant-based and everyday food products. The group remains a private company under KKR ownership and operates an international portfolio of spreads, margarine, cooking products, vegan cheese, and other plant-based foods.
- 2024
Corporate name changes to Flora Food Group
[1]Upfield adopted the Flora Food Group name in September 2024.
- 2021
Cali factory is acquired
[1]Upfield acquired Unilever's Cali, Colombia, production facility, which made Rama, Violife, and Blue Band products.
- 2020
Violife joins the portfolio
[1]Upfield acquired Violife, adding a prominent plant-based cheese business to its spreads-focused portfolio.
- 2018
Upfield is created through a Unilever spin-off
[1]KKR completed its acquisition of the spreads business from Unilever, creating the independent Upfield company.
- 2017
Unilever puts spreads division up for sale
[1]Unilever announced the sale of its margarine and spreads division after a strategic review and investor pressure to improve returns.
- 1929
Margarine Unie merges into Unilever
[1]Margarine Unie merged with Lever Brothers to form Unilever, bringing the margarine business into the corporate group that later owned the spreads portfolio.
- 1927
Margarine Unie is formed
[1]Jurgens's business became part of Margarine Unie through a series of mergers.
- 1871
Jurgens acquires a margarine patent
[1]Antoon Jurgens acquired Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès's patent for making margarine, establishing an early foundation for the Dutch business lineage that later became part of Unilever.
Products and positioning
An international branded-food group positioned around plant-based eating, spreads, cooking products, and dairy alternatives, with a portfolio combining legacy margarine brands and newer vegan products.
Margarine and plant-based spreads
Flora
Flora is the group's principal namesake brand and a major international range of margarine and plant-based spreads. Product formulations and naming vary by market, and the portfolio has also included cooking and baking variants.
Margarine and food spreads
Blue Band
Blue Band is a long-established spread brand sold in multiple markets. Its portfolio includes margarine and, depending on the country, cheese and vegetable-fat spreads.
Plant-based cheese
Violife
Violife is a plant-based cheese and dairy-alternative brand based in Thessaloniki, Greece. It became part of the group through Upfield's January 2020 acquisition and extends the business into vegan slices, blocks, grated products, and related alternatives.
Margarine and spreads
Country Crock
Country Crock is a spread brand associated with margarine and plant-based spread products, particularly in North American markets.
Margarine and cooking cream
Rama
Rama is a margarine and cooking-cream brand with strong recognition in European markets. Its products are designed for spreading, cooking, and baking.
Plant-based margarine
Becel
Becel is a plant-based margarine brand sold in several markets. ProActiv operates as a related sub-brand focused on cholesterol-conscious positioning.
Vegetable-oil spread
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! is a vegetable-oil-based spread positioned as an alternative to butter for spreading and cooking.
Cream alternative
Elmlea
Elmlea is a range of buttermilk and vegetable-oil blends marketed as alternatives to conventional cream, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Margarine
Stork
Stork is a traditional margarine brand used particularly in cooking and baking applications.
Margarine
Lätta
Lätta is a margarine brand sold in markets including Sweden and Germany. Its products were manufactured at the Helsingborg facility for many years.
Olive-oil spread
Bertolli spread
The group has produced a Bertolli olive-oil spread range. The Bertolli trademark itself is owned by Mizkan Holdings, while different companies produce Bertolli products in different categories and markets.
Brand decisions
2024
Rename Upfield as Flora Food GroupStrategyBackground
The business had expanded from traditional spreads into plant-based cheese, cream alternatives, and other food products.
Action taken
The company adopted the Flora Food Group name in September 2024.
Aftermath
The corporate name aligned the group more closely with one of its best-known consumer brands and its broader plant-based-food positioning.
2021
Restructure European manufacturingOtherBackground
The company cited underperformance and excessive costs in connection with some factory decisions while reorganizing production after its separation from Unilever.
Action taken
Upfield announced the closure of the Rotterdam factory, continued the transfer of production from Helsingborg, and moved selected production to other European facilities.
Aftermath
The restructuring reduced or transferred production at several sites, while the company also acquired the Cali facility in Colombia.
2020
Acquire ViolifeM&ABackground
The company was seeking growth in plant-based food and dairy alternatives as traditional margarine faced category pressure.
Action taken
Upfield acquired Violife, a plant-based cheese brand based in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Aftermath
Violife broadened the portfolio beyond spreads and became a central brand in the group's plant-based strategy.
2020
Increase focus on plant-based foodsStrategyBackground
Declining margarine demand encouraged the company to pursue plant-based food categories and sustainability-oriented positioning.
Action taken
Upfield increased its emphasis on plant-based products and announced a €50 million investment in a dedicated research and development facility.
Aftermath
The strategic direction was reinforced by the Violife acquisition and the later Flora Food Group corporate identity.
Announced research and development investment. €50 million (Announced in 2020; facility planned for the end of 2021)
2017
Sell the Unilever spreads division to KKRM&ABackground
Margarine sales had weakened as some consumers shifted toward butter, while Unilever faced pressure to improve shareholder returns after Kraft Heinz's 2017 approach.
Action taken
Unilever accepted KKR's €6.8 billion offer, and the transaction closed in July 2018, separating the business as Upfield.
Aftermath
The business became an independent private company and later changed its name to Flora Food Group.
Transaction value. €6.8 billion agreed sale value (December 2017 agreement; July 2018 completion)
Recent events
- 2025
Helsingborg factory closure reported[1]
Other
A local Swedish report said the Helsingborg factory was scheduled to close after nearly five decades, with remaining production to be transferred to other European factories and 62 directly affected employees.
- 2024
Upfield changes its name to Flora Food Group[1]
Other
The company adopted the Flora Food Group name in September 2024, emphasizing its broader food and plant-based portfolio.
- 2021
Upfield announces Rotterdam factory closure[1]
Other
The company announced that its Rotterdam factory would close in mid-2022 as part of its manufacturing restructuring.
- 2021
Upfield acquires Unilever's Cali production facility[1]
M&A
Upfield bought Unilever's factory in Cali, Colombia, which produced brands including Rama, Violife, and Blue Band.
- 2020
Upfield acquires Violife[1]
M&A · Product launch
Upfield purchased Violife, a plant-based cheese brand based in Thessaloniki, Greece, broadening its presence in vegan dairy alternatives.
- 2020
Upfield announces investment in plant-based research and development[1]
Other
The company announced a €50 million investment in a research and development facility focused on plant-based products, planned for opening at the end of 2021.
- 2020
Production restructuring affects Helsingborg operations[1]
Other
Upfield announced plans to offshore production from its Helsingborg facility, with about 80 employees notified that their positions would end and cheese and dairy-product manufacturing scheduled to move to Kleve, Germany.
- 2018
Upfield acquisition from Unilever is completed[1]
M&A
The transaction separating the spreads division from Unilever closed in July 2018, creating the independent Upfield business under KKR ownership.
- 2017
Unilever agrees to sell spreads business to KKR[1]
M&A
Unilever accepted KKR's €6.8 billion offer for its margarine and spreads division after a competitive bidding process involving several private-equity firms.
Sources1 sources
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