One of the biggest names in the UK cheese industry ­ Crowson's and Sons ­ has been acquired by chilled and deli product supplier the BFD Group. Crowson's clocks up annual turnover of £6m and is famous for introducing Camembert to the UK in 1894. BFD's turnover is £35m. The coup coincides with the appointment of Andrew Tempest as chief executive of BFD and George Dunn as group sales director. Dunn was previously sales director at Baxters. Former Crowson's md Pat O'Halloran will join BFD as a director. O'Halloran commented: "Crowson's brings traditional strengths in the cheese market which will complement the dynamic and marketing-led forward thinking of BFD. He said the acquisition of Crowson's gave BFD greater access to foodservice clients in London and additional warehouse space in Cheltenham. With the acquistion completed, Tempest said BFD intended to promote its core products ­ speciality Continental meats and cheeses ­ to an increasing number of food outlets. "We will do this via a fully integrated national chilled distribution system with geographically spread chilled warehouses," he said. {{NEWS }}

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