Princes Group is an international food and drink group involved in the manufacture, import and distribution of branded and customer own-brand products. Founded in 1880 and headquartered in the UK, and recently acquired by Newlat Food S.p.A.

History

Princes’ heritage dates back to 1880, when it was established as a fish importing business in Liverpool, the city where its international headquarters are still located today. The firm was founded as a partnership by Briton William Muirhead Simpson (1842–1926) and Canadian Frank Roberts (1853–1938) and initially imported tinned lobster from Canada. It operated as Simpson Roberts, then created brands including Maypole (1891), Mikado (1895) and Princes (1900). By 1915, Simpson Roberts was the world's largest exporter of lobster, handling one third of the world's lobster trade. In 1919, the partnership was incorporated as a limited company. In 1962, it changed its name to Princes Foods. Princes first entered continental Europe in 1960 and today its European operations are managed from its offices in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. In 1964, Princes was acquired by 'Trex' manufacturer J Bibby & Sons. In 1973, the combined business was sold to Italy's Buitoni group, which, in 1988 was acquired by Nestlé, with Princes then sold to Mitsubishi Corporation in 1989. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi, Princes completed several high-profile mergers and acquisitions that added significant scale to the business. After the 2011 acquisition of Premier Foods' canning operations for £182M, Princes was, by 2013, the UK's largest supplier of tinned food; by 2020, it employed 7,000 people globally, 2,200 of them in UK. However, in January 2023, Mitsubishi was reported to be considering selling the Princes Group, and in March 2023 potential buyers, including Bain Capital-backed Valeo Foods and the Aurelius Group investment firm, were reported to be considering bids of around £400M. From July 24, Princes Group became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newlat Foods, retaining its legal name ‘Princes Ltd’.

Timeline

Operations

Princes' customers include major supermarkets, convenience stores, foodservice operators, wholesale suppliers and other food manufacturers. Its brands and products span over 20 different categories including fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, soups, pastes, pasta, cooking sauces, edible oils and a broad range of soft drinks sectors.

Owned and operated brands

Brands (*= licensed brands) which Princes manufacture and produce include:

Production sites

Princes operates 11 production sites situated in the UK, mainland Europe and Mauritius:

UK food sites

UK soft drinks sites

UK edible oils

International