FDBusiness.com

Yildiz Holding, the largest food company in Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, has brought together its core biscuit, chocolate, and confectionery businesses Godiva Chocolatier, United Biscuits, Ulker and DeMet’s Candy Company, to form a new global company called pladis.

The new entity unites internationally recognised brands Godiva, a leading premium chocolate brand worldwide, McVitie’s, a leading biscuit brand with a heritage in the UK and Europe, and Ulker, the leading biscuits and confectionery brand in Turkey and Middle East. Together they form a US$5.2 billion business, positioning pladis as a global leader in the category.

Murat Ulker, chairman of Yildiz Holding, comments: “Establishing pladis is the first step in realising the long-term strategy of Yildiz Holding. We are bringing together some of the world’s best loved brands and combining their 350 years of experience to form a new family company. We will be a global leader in biscuits and confectionery, and bring ‘bites of happiness’ to every corner of the world.”

With 36 factories in 13 countries, pladis will employ 26,000 people and be led by a senior leadership team comprised of Cem Karakas, chief executive, and Ali Ulker, vice chairman focusing on innovation and quality. The company will operate on a regional basis, with each region responsible for the manufacturing and commercial activities of the full pladis brand portfolio.

Cem Karakas says: “We have significant growth ambitions for pladis with the aim to outperform the category standard year-on-year. This is supported by our capital position and the strength of our manufacturing as one of only two companies in the world that produce such a broad range of biscuits and confectionery. As one global family, we can be more agile, allowing us to innovate around our products and develop more brand synergies – which are already benefitting our business”.

UK managing director Jon Eggleton remarks: “The UK is an important part of our heritage and our future as we begin our new journey together as pladis. I am excited by the opportunity to keep growing as part of this new family with our UK customers and colleagues, and people who love our products everywhere.”