Cranswick, a poultry and pork company headquartered in the United Kingdom (U.K.), has grown through the acquisition of the Buckle family’s pig farming and rearing operation in the U.K., as well as the family’s 50% stake in the White Rose Farms Limited pig production operation.
Cranswick previously held the other 50% of White Rose Farms Limited in a joint venture that was set up in 2018. Cranswick and the Buckle family have done business together for more than 25 years, the company stated.
Cranswick did not disclose the financial details of the transaction, which it announced on its website on February 11.
According to the announcement, the enlarged business will be known as White Rose Farms and will specialize in the production of Red Tractor assured pigs in Yorkshire. It will supply about 2,500 pigs per week. Rick Buckle will lead new White Rose venture.
Earlier growth for Cranswick
This acquisition follows the company’s December acquisition of Packington Pork, which specializes in British free-range and outdoor pigs. With the two acquisitions, Cranswick now farms more than 30% of its own pigs, reinforcing its commitment to a sustainable and traceable farm-to-fork operation, the company stated.
Cranswick, which formed in the early 1970s as a producer of animal feed, has since diversified as a pig producer and processor of pork, sausage, chicken, cooked meats, premium cooked poultry, air-dried bacon and gammon.
In recent years, Cranswick acquired CCL Holdings and its subsidiary, Crown Chicken Limited (CCL), as well as Benson Park, a cooked poultry business. The company announced it 2017 its plans to build a new poultry plant in Eye, Suffolk. Marel Poultry supplied the processing equipment for that facility.
