The future of Welsh butter brand Hollybush has been secured after soon-to-close owner Evan Rees (Butter) Ltd sold it off to contract packer Gower View Foods.
The Grocer reported last month that the Swansea-based, family-run business was winding down operations due to a big hike in butter prices, driven by tight supply, which had made it “impossible” for the business to continue.
Evan Rees (Butter) is not related to the similarly-named Evan Rees Dyfed Ltd, a wholesaler of butter, cheese and egg based in Pembrokeshire.
Its business model is based on buying 25kg bulk blocks of butter from various suppliers before it is sent to a contract packer, which cuts and packages the butter as Green Meadow and Hollybush – which boasts a heritage dating back to the 1960s.
But as supply tightened over the past year and butter prices soared, the company’s margins became “non-existent”, said director Daniel Carman, though he stressed the business was debt-free and all bills “would be paid accordingly” before it ceased to trade.
Carman has now confirmed that Gower View, which also supplies Welsh butter brand Shirgar, has acquired the Hollybush brand for an undisclosed fee.
Gower View had been Hollybush’s packer for the past 13 years, Carman said.
“This is a natural fit for both parties involved and the continuation of our Hollybush brand is great news for all of our incredible customers who we’ve supplied for many years and who are as far wide as the Caribbean and west Africa.”
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