Sausage specialist Wolf goes to Morliny Foods Holding
Sausage manufacturers in Germany have been under pressure for years. Due to intense competition, increasing demands, cost structures, and raw material sourcing, more and more companies are finding themselves in trouble.
Concentration in meat processing is progressing
As feared, the increasing concentration in processing is accelerating at an alarming pace: In September, the Federal Cartel Office approved the Premium Food Group's (Tönnies) plan to acquire the meat processor The Family Butchers (TFB). At the beginning of October, the medium-sized meat processing company Dieter Hein, based in Hasbergen-Gaste near Osnabrück, filed for insolvency. Now, the British Morliny Foods Holding, part of the Chinese WH Group, is acquiring the long-established German company Wolf, based in Schwandorf, Bavaria. The acquisition is still subject to antitrust review.
Sausage specialist Wolf remains under current management
According to a company statement, the Wolf Group, with three production sites in Schwandorf, Schmölln, and Nuremberg and 1,800 employees, will be led by the existing management team, with Christian Wolf as CEO, during the planned expansion phase. Wolf is considered one of Germany's leading manufacturers of premium sausages, convenience products, and ready meals. The partnership with Morliny Foods opens up opportunities for growth and international expansion, explained Managing Director Christian Wolf. Morliny's growth vision will create the conditions to continue to meet global challenges, for example, in raw material procurement, as part of a strong international network.
Industry struggles with overcapacity
In an interview in September on the occasion of the company's centenary, Wolf pointed to the slump in sales across the entire industry. Many companies are struggling to maintain capacity because there are too many production facilities for current demand. In Germany, he stated, there is cutthroat competition. Since there are few customers on the retail side, competition in the German sausage sector is fierce. Rising costs are very difficult to pass on. The Wolf Group is a fourth-generation family business that has developed into a modern food producer.
Morliny Foods Holding operates in all pork and poultry segments in several European markets, including Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain, France and the United Kingdom, and is part of the Chinese meat giant WH Group, which describes itself as the world's largest pork producer.
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