Unilever offloads remaining Bertolli assets to Enrico-Glasbest

Unilever has offloaded its remaining assets in the Bertolli brand to Netherlands-based Enrico-Glasbest for an undisclosed sum.

Enrico-Glasbest will acquire Bertolli’s European pasta sauces, pesto and mayonnaise activities, as well as other trademark rights under the Bertolli licence.

According to a release from Enrico-Glasbest, no staff will transfer following the transaction, no production locations will be taken over, and the production of Bertolli products will continue to take place at current producers.

The company added that, to enable “smooth integration”, a transition period of six months has been agreed, during which Unilever will continue to handle sales and operations for Bertolli.

Robin Heetkamp, managing director of Enrico-Glasbest said: “As a brand, Bertolli fits in seamlessly with the strategy and ambitions of Enrico-Glasbest: the company has shown significant growth in recent years and is ready for this step forward.

“Entrepreneurship is present at all levels in the organisation and the infrastructure is ready to scale up further.”

Former Unilever employees Jet van Koten, and Aleks Fiege helped to initiate the transaction. Van Koten now serves as commercial director at Enrico-Glabest, while Fiege serves as director of marketing & NPD. They stated: “Bertolli is an iconic brand with a history of over 150 years.

“We see enormous potential. With more attention for, and increased investments in quality, innovation and marketing, more value will be created. In Enrico-Glasbest we have found an ideal home to bring this wonderful brand to bloom again.”

Unilever has been gradually offloading parts of the Bertolli brand over the last few years. The company previously sold the olive oil activities of Bertolli to Deoleo in 2008, and offloaded the margarine activities to KKR/Upfield in 2018.

Unilever also offloaded its North American pasta sauce business – which included the Bertolli brand – to Japan-based Mizkan Group in 2014, while the company sold the Bertolli frozen foods operations to Conagra Brands in 2012.