18
DEALMAKERS
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
A POT OF GOLD
An iconic Lancashire food brand is set to start a new chapter after being acquired by the James Hall group of companies for an undisclosed sum.
Family run yogurt maker Ann Forshaw’s and its associated Alston Dairy was founded in the early 1980s.
James Hall & Co serves a network of independent Spar retailers and company-owned stores across the North of England from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
The acquisition sees the family-owned group expand its portfolio of food manufacturing businesses in the North West to five, adding Forshaw’s to Clayton Park Bakery, Fazila Foods, Graham Eyes Butchers and the Great Northern Sandwich Company.
Operating within the group will mean business as usual for Alston Dairy. Company founder Ann Forshaw and her granddaughter Emma Coupe, who joined in 2017, will remain as directors and will run the
company on a day-to-day basis, and all staff will continue in employment.
The family’s Bolton Fold Farm, next door to the dairy, will also remain under ownership of the Forshaw family.
With a mission of producing high quality yogurt from farm to pot within 24 hours, Alston Dairy will continue to purchase milk from the farm to maintain the product’s unique characteristic by using the freshest milk possible.
Dominic Hall, joint managing director of James Hall & Co, which can trace its roots back to 1863, says: “The Ann Forshaw’s brand has an outstanding reputation for producing premium yogurt products.
“We have sold Ann Forshaw’s products in our Spar stores for many years and they have played an important role in our dairy categories, becoming firm customer favourites.
“We continue to strive to source locally as much as we can and acquiring Alston Dairy will allow us to protect that ambition and keep the brand local.
“We are keen to grow the business further and see a huge amount of potential in the Ann Forshaw’s brand.
“We will grow the presence in more Spar stores and continue to develop products in new categories, ensuring that greater numbers of customers can enjoy the products.”
Ann began the business that bears her name in the early 1980s after completing a one-day yogurt making course.
Armed with the knowledge gleaned from the course, she set about making low fat yogurt, sweetened with apple juice, using the skimmed milk which at the time was a waste product on the farm from the cream that they produced.
The business, based on the outskirts of Longridge in the Ribble Valley, has had its share of challenges over the past four decades. However, it has overcome them all through Ann’s determination and her family’s support.
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