Culina is buying the logistics business of Cert Octavian for an undisclosed sum.
Culina and Cert Octavian have previously developed links through shared facilities at Dudley and Rotherham. These operations now become fully part of Culina’s network and are joined by Cert Octavian warehouses at Hoddesdon, Lutterworth and Middleton.
Culina’s experience in chilled distribution services puts it in a strong position to meet the growing demand for next day ambient services in the retail sector. In March it launched a next day ambient service for Tesco.
The deal does not include the Octavian wine business based at Corsham, which is being retained by current owner Nigel Jagger through Octavian Wine Services.
The acquisition will take the Culina network of ambient distribution centres to eight.
Culina chief Thomas van Mourik said: “We are acquiring some excellent contracts, facilities and people, This significantly expands our ambient network and will enable us to drive through synergies and efficiencies that will benefit all our existing customers and allow us to offer an even better service.
[asset_ref id=”1573″] Thomas van Mourik
“This announcement is further evidence of our commitment to double the size of the business in the next five years,” says van Mourik. “We will be looking for similar opportunities that will allow us to add value for food and drink customers through the innovation and competitive supply chain solutions that set us apart.”
Octavian chairman Nigel Jagger said the decision to retain the Octavian wine business reflected the economic growth in the Far East which is resulting in significant growth in the fine and specialist wine market, with resulting demand for Octavian’s services.
“Our fine wine business is operating at full capacity with over £1 billion of fine and specialist wine already in our care,” he said.
“Global demand is growing and the sale of the logistics business provides us with the opportunity to make significant future investment to grow the Octavian brand and provide our exceptional services to new markets.”
The Corsham site has a huge network of caves suited to storing wine in the optimum conditions.
