Tue, 06 Mar 2012 | MERGER
Fairtrade tea and coffee seller Clipper has been bought by leading health brand Wessanen.
Dorset-based Clipper has £16 million yearly revenues from its sales of organic and Fairtrade teas, coffee and hot chocolate, and is to be absorbed into the UK operations of Wessanen, which is behind well known organic brands such as Whole Earth and Kallo.
Clipper has about 90 employees working at its factory in Beaminster, and is, its new owner said, to remain there and may undergo expansion in the area.
Wessanen’s UK chief executive, Patrick Cairns, believes there is “huge growth potential” for the tea firm in Britain and internationally. He told the BBC: “We very much admire what the team at Clipper have achieved and want to build on this, invest in the brand and manufacturing capability.”
Clipper was set up by Mike and Lorraine Behme in 1984 with two chests of Assam tea. Clipper was the first tea to be given Fairtrade status in 1994. Its products are now sold in 50 countries.
The founders left the firm, having sold it to FF&P Private Equity, for an amount thought to be worth £30 million.
Wessanen has operations in France, Benelux, Germany and the UK. It announced revenues of €706 million for 2011.
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