Valio to buy Gold&Green brand, intellectual property, and R&D function from Paulig

Paulig, the international, family-owned food and beverage company plans has entered into an agreement to sell its Gold&Green brand, intellectual property and R&D function to Valio. With this transaction, Valio aims to further strengthen its position in the growing global plant protein market.

Gold&Green Foods, known for its plant-based innovation Pulled Oats, has been part of Paulig since 2016. Paulig has supported the brand and invested in its production, organization, and international growth.

“Gold&Green has been a pioneer in the field of plant-based food and new product development, and Valio has successfully developed its Oddlygood plant-based product portfolio. Now, the Gold&Green R&D team joins us in reaching our strategic goal – to further strengthen our position in the growing global plant protein market. Together, we will develop the innovations in Gold&Green’s pipeline and continue the story of the brand”, says Tuomas Salusjärvi, executive vice president, Growth Businesses and R&D at Valio.

“We at Valio extend a warm welcome to the Gold&Green R&D team. We have long traditions in innovation activities, and now we will have new top experts joining our R&D team of over 100 people as colleagues. They bring a new kind of expertise, and together we will continue working on Gold&Green’s future innovations. The plant-based products market needs more new, appealing products,” says Harri Kallioinen, senior vice president at Valio Research & Development.

“We believe that plant-based diets are a growing trend and will continue to contribute to this growth through our Tex Mex, Spices and Snacks product categories. Over the years, we have invested in the international growth of Gold&Green and its products are currently available in 17 countries. However, we have not been able to scale the business in a profitable way”, says Paulig’s CEO Rolf Ladau, who continues, “This agreement with Valio secures the continuity of the unique and innovative Gold&Green brand and enables the realization of its full potential in the future.”

The agreement with Valio includes all the rights of the Gold&Green brand, intellectual property and research and development work. The R&D Team of Gold&Green Foods will join the Valio team as of 1 March 2022.

The agreement with Valio does not include other Gold&Green Foods operations and the Gold&Green Foods’ production site in Järvenpää. Paulig will continue Gold&Green Foods current operations and sell Gold&Green products under license from Valio in all markets until a potential phase-out of the operations.