Green Isle buys UK pizza brand

Green Isle Foods has consolidated its hold on the British frozen pizza market with the acquisition of the San Marco brand from Heinz.

The deal, which is understood to be worth close to £1 million sterling (€1.38 million), was announced yesterday. The company also signed a licence agreement with Heinz granting it exclusive distribution rights in Ireland and Britain on the Ross brand of frozen pizza products.

The company, a subsidiary of Northern Foods, also confirmed that its Goodfellas brand has taken over as market leader in the British frozen pizza market, with 19 per cent of the market.

Last October, Green Isle began a revamp of the Goodfellas brand. It is envisaged that San Marco will complement that brand rather than competing with it.

San Marco was acquired by Heinz from its original owners, United Biscuits, in 1999. It has 8 per cent of the frozen deep-pan pizza market in Britain.

Green Isle, based in Naas, Co Kildare, employs 1,150 people in Ireland and Britain. It manufactures and distributes frozen foods, including pizza, fish and pastry, alongside its own brand goods. The company has several plants in the Republic and exports more than 60 per cent of its product.

Mr Kieran Carolan, Green Isle managing director of Green Isle, said the acquisition "enables us to avail of additional ... opportunities that would not be possible under our premium market-leading Goodfellas brand".