Carambar & Co
Carambar & Co, or CPK, is a French confectionery company founded in 2016. It brings together confectionery brands such as Carambar, Terry's, Lutti, Kréma, La Pie qui Chante, Malabar, Vichy Pastilles, Suchard chocolates, and Poulain chocolate.
Carambar & Co is owned by CPK Holdings, which is co-owned by French investment firm Eurazeo and private investors.
History
In 2016, an investment consortium led by French investment firm Eurazeo bought a set of confectionery brands from American multinational food conglomerate Mondelēz International, and on 2 May that year they were formally amalgamated to form Carambar & Co. The consortium also included Patrick Mispolet and Matthieu Maillot, former president and former CFO respectively of Orangina-Schweppes France, and Pierre Le Tanneur, former director of Spotless Group. The brands purchased by the investors were:- Carambar, makers of the eponymous chocolate caramel bar, from whom the new company took their name;
- Kréma, manufacturers of fruit bonbons and Malabar chewing gum;
- La Pie qui Chante, a French confectioner known for Michoko caramels;
- Vichy Pastilles mints;
- Chocolat Poulain, a French chocolatier;
- Chocolat Suchard, a Swiss chocolatier and the original creator of Milka, though that brand was retained by Mondelēz;
- Terry's, originally based in York, famous for their Terry's Chocolate Orange.
- Strasbourg, manufacturing Suchard and Terry's products;
- Blois manufacturing Poulain chocolate;
- Vichy for Vichy pastilles;
- Marcq-en-Barœul for Carambars;
- Saint-Genest-d'Ambière for Kréma and La Pie qui Chante confectionery.
In late August 2018, the company announced its acquisition of Lutti, subject to approval from competition authorities. The acquisition of Lutti, the third-largest confectionery company in France, by Carambar, the second-largest, was finalized in October 2018.