Popular Pasta Sauce Brand, Ragú Sold to a Japanese Firm

May 22, 2014

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

Unilever announced that it would sell its pasta-sauces business – Ragú and Bertolli brands to the Japanese firm Mizkan Group, for $2.15-billion.

The Ragú pasta sauce brand was established in New York in 1937, and one year later Unilever bought the sauce product. Ragú is considered the top selling pasta sauce in the United States.

According to Unilever, the Ragú and Bertolli pasta sauce segment has annual sales of more than $600 million. The acquisition includes a sauce-processing plant in Owensboro, Kentucky, and a tomato-processing facility in Stockton, California.

Within the last 18 months Unilever has sold off several big brands including its Wish-Bone salad dressing ($580- million), Skippy peanut butter ($700-million) and its European meat business for an undisclosed amount.

In 2011, the Japan-based firm, Mizkan, bought a U.S. processor of jalapeño peppers and in 2005 bought Holland House, which sells cooking wines and vinegars. Mizkan’s chairman and chief executive Kazuhide Nakano calls the move an “important milestone in our global expansion strategy.”

The deal is expected to close sometime in June.

Video: What Does 20 MILLION Hogs a Year Look Like?

?? The Multi-Plant System Processing 20 Million Hogs Annually in the Midwest JBS USA operates multiple large-scale pork processing facilities across the Midwest, including major plants in Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana. Combined, these facilities have the capacity to process approximately 20 million hogs annually.

Each plant operates high-speed automated slaughter systems capable of processing up to 20,000 head per day, followed by fabrication lines that break carcasses into primals, sub-primals, and case-ready retail products.

Hog procurement is coordinated through electronic marketing platforms that connect regional contract finishing operations and independent producers to plant demand schedules. This digital procurement system allows for steady supply flow and scheduling efficiency across multiple facilities.

Processing plants incorporate comprehensive food safety systems, including pathogen intervention technologies, rapid chilling processes, and integrated cold-chain management. USDA inspection is embedded throughout the harvest and fabrication stages to ensure regulatory compliance and product integrity. Finished pork products — from bulk primals to retail-ready packaged cuts — are distributed through coordinated logistics networks serving domestic and export markets.