FELIX GULLÓN ACQUIRES CEREALTO SIRO BISCUIT FACTORY IN JAÉN TO PROPEL LAUNCH OF NEW BUSINESS PROJECT

Cerealto Siro Foods will gradually transfer production volume from its factory in Jaén to its factory in Venta de Baños, where capacity will be increased and technology improved on its existing corn cake line. Cerealto Siro will invest over 40 million euros in 2020 alone, including those investments already made in Aguilar de Campoo and Venta de Baños.

Felix Gullón, who was Expansion Director at Galletas Gullón until three months ago, has reached a sale agreement with Cerealto Siro Foods to acquire its biscuit factory in Jaen as part of a new personal project he plans to undertake by launching a new brand of biscuits. With more than 25 years of experience at multinational companies in the distribution and retail sector, Felix Gullón is now undertaking a new business project by setting up Family Biscuits. The new biscuit brand from Felix Gullón seeks to renovate the traditional biscuit sector with a commitment to innovation and operations in the domestic and international market.

“After looking at and assessing all the options in the market, its productive capacity, specialisation, strategic location and workforce experience were decisive factors in the decision to acquire this factory in Jaen, which now represents the foundations of my new business and personal project and my desire to continue my father’s legacy”, said Felix Gullón.

A specialist in the biscuit category with extensive professional experience at various companies and over 17 years of experience at Galletas Gullón, where he led the company’s international expansion process, Felix Gullón’s new project provides a unique development and growth opportunity for the factory in Jaen and those who work there, whose jobs and working conditions will be guaranteed under this new ownership.

In turn, this operation will enable Cerealto Siro Foods to continue boosting its operational competitiveness and efficiency by gradually concentrating production volume at other factories with the capacity to absorb it, thereby moving towards more specialised, multi-client and multi-country factories aimed at meeting its 2030 Strategic Plan and position itself in the global food market as a benchmark in the biscuits, cereals, snacks and pasta categories specialised in the development and manufacture of cereal food products for clients in the retail and B2B sector.

In this regard, the company will make immediate investments at one of its factories in Venta de Baños to make it its benchmark factory for corn cakes, increase its productive capacity and improve its current technologies, thereby enabling it to gradually absorb the current corn cake volume from Jaen and incorporate new products. Following its divestment in the pastries and bread businesses, as well as this recent announcement, Cerealto Siro Foods plans to invest more than 128 million euros between now and 2025 on new technologies that will enable it to continue innovating in order to maximise efficiency and capacity at its existing factories.

The company will have invested over 40 million euros in 2020 alone, including the installation of a new cereal bar line in Aguilar de Campoo that is already in operation and the increase in capacity and improved technologies on its existing corn cake line in Venta de Baños, the factory that will gradually absorb the volume from Jaen.

About FAMILY BISCUITS FAMILY BISCUITS is the new project by Felix Gullón in Jaen being undertaken alongside a highly experienced workforce, an outstanding production centre with seven production lines, a productive capacity in excess of 30,000 tonnes/year and with the aim of building a brand to reflect the age-old culture of gastronomy and baking in this part of Spain and bring it to the rest of the country and international markets.

About CEREALTO SIRO FOODS Set up following the merger of Siro and Cerealto, CEREALTO SIRO FOODS is a family-run multinational food product manufacturing company with a strategy focused on the manufacture of cereal food products for clients in the retail and B2B sector, and with a high dose of innovation and strong development potential in numerous markets.

The group posted a consolidated turnover of more than 577 million euros, currently employs more than 4,500 people and produces 374,000 tonnes/year at 15 production centres in Spain, Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom and Mexico, as well as sales offices in the United States.

With scheduled investment of 128 million euros up to 2025, its business model is focused on the consumer, product and process innovation, and operational excellence. Furthermore, it is a benchmark in the inclusion of people at risk of social exclusion, who account for more than 11% of the workforce, and the leadership of the circular economy in the agri-food industry.