Rainbow Dust has purchased Squires Kitchen in a move that will combine their complementing ranges of cake decoration products for bakers, sugarcrafters, and chocolatiers.
The transaction, made for an undisclosed sum, is said to be the second in a series of planned strategic initiatives by parent company Albex Group to build its presence in the market segment. It follows its acquisition last year of Rainbow Dust from Real Food Group, which called in administrators shortly afterwards and sold its remaining business, JF Renshaw Ltd, to British Bakels.
Rainbow Dust was founded in 2008 and operates a BRC AA+ accredited site in Preston from which it produces a range of food colourings and paints, lustre dusts and glitters, and decorations that allow professionals and consumers to make creative sweet bakes and chocolates. It also offers a variety of sugar craft additives such as texturisers, icing whiteners and edible glue.
Hampshire-based Squires Kitchen has been supplying cake decorating and sugarcraft products for over 30 years – its range includes sugarpaste, icing powders, and cocoa butter colourings.
Both brands are to be retained following the acquisition, with manufacturing of Squires Kitchen to be relocated to Rainbow Dust’s Preston site.
“Squires Kitchen and Rainbow Dust are a perfect fit,” commented Louise Wane, managing director of Rainbow Dust. “We’re both long-standing and passionate supporters of the cake, sugarcraft and chocolatier communities. We’re both obsessive about quality and constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation. And we’re both British brands committed to manufacturing our products ourselves in the UK.”
Wane noted that the brands together offer customers “everything they need to craft magical creations”, from sugarpaste to colourings to sparkles and decorations. “This is the next step in an exciting journey and we’re looking forward to making further announcements about other initiatives in the pipeline in 2025,” she added.
Paisley-headquartered Albex Group operates a fleet of over 60 vehicles from 400,000 sq ft of ambient and chilled storage across nine BRC accredited sites in the UK and Europe. In total, it serves more than 5,000 trade customers every year and in 2023 generated sales of £412m. Among its portfolio of ingredients manufacturers are bakery sector suppliers Kent Foods, BFP, and Henley Bridge.
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