Heinz Wattie's has an appetite for Gregg's food and coffee

Wednesday, 29 November 2017

A proposed merger between two food giants could mean the end of Gregg's tomato sauce.

Heinz Wattie's, owned by Kraft, is seeking clearance from the consumer watchdog to merge with Gregg's food and instant coffee business, owned by Japanese company Suntory Food and Beverage.

Heinz supplies sauces to supermarkets and the food service industry in New Zealand under the brands Wattie's, Heinz, Lea & Perrins, HP, and Gourmet. Cerebos Gregg's makes sauces under Cerebos, Gregg's, F Whitlock & Sons, and Asian Home Gourmet.

The merger is subject to Heinz selling the recipes for Gregg's tomato, barbecue, and steak sauces, and F Whitlock & Sons Worcestershire sauce products supplied in New Zealand.

**READ MORE:

* Kraft Heinz withdraws offer to merge with Unilever

* Jury out on how Kiwis will see sale of Cerebos Gregg's**

It must also divest the right to use the Gregg's and F Whitlock & Sons brand.

In New Zealand the business is known as Cerebos Gregg's. The Gregg's coffee brand was started by William Gregg in Dunedin in 1861.

It merged with Cerebos in 1984, and Suntory bought Cerebos Pacific in 1990.

In May, Suntory put up for sale the food and instant coffee divisions of its Cerebos companies in Australia and New Zealand, along with its Asian Home Gourmet brand in Singapore.

Cerebos, which has operations throughout Asia, said food and instant coffee were non-core business for Suntory as a soft drinks manufacturer.

Suntory will keep Cerebos' fresh coffee business, which in New Zealand includes the Caffe L'affare, Atomic Roasters, Orb, and Robert Harris brands.

The Commerce Commission must decide whether the merger will result in substantially less competition in the market.