Ardian sells its stake in Frostkrone to Emeram Capital Partners

frostkrone is one of the leading providers of deep-frozen convenience food products in Europe, with a wide range of deep-frozen finger food and snack products, such as mozzarella sticks, chilli cheese nuggets and theme-based snack boxes. The company was founded in 1997 in Rietberg, Germany, and supplies companies in the food retail, discount, home delivery service and food service sectors, serving both frostkrone-branded and private label products. Raw materials such as cheese, meat, fish, poultry, fruit and vegetables are also processed by the company for the production of finger food items. This enables frostkrone to quickly and flexibly develop new product ideas to meet customers’ needs.

Since acquiring its majority stake in summer 2012 through Ardian Expansion Funds II and III, Ardian has supported frostkrone in its national and international growth strategy. Through collaboration with management, product diversification and innovation have been supported and European expansion increased through the growth of sales channels, particularly in the areas of food service, discount and food retailing. 

These growth initiatives have proved very successful. Today, frostkrone products are delivered to more than 30 countries. In addition, over 60 new products such as Corny Dogs, Emmentaler Cheese Sticks, Mozzarella Planks, Vegetable Nuggets and Menu Boxes were successfully launched on the market.

Alongside further international expansion in the food retail and discount sectors, frostkrone was able to win new customers including a new permanent listing with a leading food discounter as well as permanent supply contract with one of the world’s largest fast food chains. In line with this increased demand, the capacity of the company’s two production sites in Rietberg and Verl was expanded and the number of employees increased from 108 in 2011 to more than 187 today.

In line with frostkrone’s growth strategy, the management team was also expanded. In 2013, Frédéric Dervieux was appointed as CEO. Mr Dervieux has more than 20 years of international experience in the food industry including positions at Nestlé, Humana and DMK Eis GmbH. 

Frédéric Dervieux, CEO of frostkrone, said: “The trend towards convenience food products continues and is demonstrated in the continuously increasing demand from our customers. We monitor consumer preferences and trends worldwide, and thanks to our strong innovation credentials, we are able to advise our customers across Europe about new products and how to market them. In addition, we set trends ourselves as we work to develop exciting new products. With Ardian’s support, we have been able to significantly accelerate our growth in Europe. As well as being our financing partner, the Ardian team also contributed by being a challenging and supportive business partner. With our new owner, we are confident that we will be able to continue our expansion plans and to generate sustained added value with attractive snack products for our customers.”

Marc Abadir, Managing Director at Ardian, added: “Since our initial investment, frostkrone has expanded its position to become one of the leading providers of finger food and snack products in Europe. This success is down to the new management and brand identity, and improvements to operational procedures, as well as the company’s strong national and international growth. We are proud to have contributed to this success and to have created the basis for continued growth together with the management.”