FDBusiness.com

Hain Celestial Group, the US-based natural and organic products manufacturer, is extending its international presence into Ireland with the acquisition of Cully & Sully. Cully & Sully is a marketer and manufacturer of natural chilled soups, savory pies and hot pots, all under the Cully & Sully brand, with a range of approximately 20 products. Cully & Sully supplies all major food retailers in Ireland. The founding management team of Cullen Allen (Cully) and Colum O’Sullivan (Sully) will continue to manage all aspects of Cully & Sully reporting to Rob Burnett, chief executive of Hain Daniels Group.

Irwin Simon, founder, president and chief executive of Hain Celestial, comments: “Cully & Sully’s branded soup is similar to our New Covent Garden Soup Co brand in the United Kingdom. We are excited about the prospects to expand our presence into the Irish marketplace with our Hain Celestial and Daniels brands and to expand Cully & Sully chilled fresh soups into the United Kingdom. We see a tremendous opportunity for chilled soups as consumers move away from canned soups and into fresh chilled soups. We also welcome two energetic, creative entrepreneurs, Cully and Sully, to the Hain Celestial Europe team.  We hope to utilize Cully and Sully’s knowledge and expertise for Hain Daniels and here in the United States as we move chilled fresh soups to the North American marketplace.”

The acquisition is expected to be neutral to Hain Celestial’s earnings in fiscal year 2012 and to be accretive to earnings in fiscal year 2013. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.