Dean Foods buys Alpro soya brand

Leading soya brand Alpro has been bought by US dairy company Dean Foods from private Belgian food company Vandemoortele for €325m (£277m).

Alpro is the European market leader in branded food and drink soya products in the UK including milk, yoghurts, mousse desserts and milkshakes.

Dean Foods intends to run Alpro as a stand-alone European business, with Alpro CEO Bernard Deryckere reporting into to Joe Scalzo, CEO and President of Dean Foods’ WhiteWave-Morningstar division.

The brand is currently produced at five manufacturing sites in Belgium, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, and employs approximately 750 people.

It also produces specialist health brand Provamel which is sold through health food stores.

Dean Foods already produces and markets Silk and Horizon soya products. The media planning and buying account for Alpro was consolidated into Manning Gottlieb in 2006.

“We fundamentally believe that the soy market is an emerging category with potential to bring more nutritious soy products to more people in more places around the world,” says Scalzo.