FDBusiness.com

Darwin Private Equity has completed the acquisition of UK organic baby food business Plum Baby for £10m. Launched in 2006 by Susie Willis, Plum has pioneered the premium baby food sector in the UK and is on track to achieve retail turnover of £15m in 2010.

Its range of over 50 products, created with the ethos of ‘real food for babies, not just baby food’, is distributed in most major supermarkets and includes baby food puree pots, purees in pouches, baby cereals, fromage frais, baby biscuits and snacks.

The acquisition by Darwin comes at a critical point in the development of Plum as the business is transitioning from an early stage entrepreneurial operation into a professional consumer branded business. Darwin’s experience of growing UK consumer brands, working alongside talented entrepreneurs, will help the company continue this transition and transform it into a major player in the UK baby food market whilst at the same time retaining its entrepreneurial roots and flair for innovation.

Founder Susie Willis will remain in the business as creative director, while chief executive Patrick Cairns has decided to leave the business on completion of the deal. He will be replaced as chief executive by Paul Kaye, an experienced manager in the food sector having worked at Dairy Crest, Northern Foods, HJ Heinz UK and Mars (Masterfoods).