Unilever to offload The Vegetarian Butcher as it ‘prunes’ portfolio

The FMCG giant is understood to be working with Piper Sandler on a plan to offload the company and has already contacted a number of possible buyers, Sky News reported.

It comes just six years after Unilever purchased the plant-based brand, which was founded in 2007 and is stocked in retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado.

It is unclear what the brand’s likely sale valuation will be, however insiders told the title that The Vegetarian Butcher is understood to be recording strong sales and volume growth.

It comes as chief executive Hein Schumacher told investors last week that he was looking to “prune” Unilever’s portfolio, with potential contenders identified to be offloaded making round £1bn in annual sales.

Earlier this year, Unilever looked to offload its entire multi-billion pound ice cream division, however experienced difficulty finding a buyer due to the sheer size of the brands.

Just last week, Unilever scrapped the plans to sell the ice cream business as it instead eyes a spin-off for the £15bn division.

Grocery Gazette