UK manufacturer The Compleat Food Group has acquired plant based ‘cheese’ producer Palace Culture for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition sees The Compleat Food Group expand its plant-based offering, adding to its existing brands Squeaky Bean, producer of ready to eat meat alternatives, and the chilled pickles and ferments brand, Vadasz.

Formed in 2021, The Compleat Food Group employs more than 3,500 people across 10 sites with an annual turnover of £700 million and is also home to Pork Farms, Wall’s Pastry, Unearthed and Wrights.

Palace Culture was established in April 2018 by founder Mirko Parmigiani, and has since grown from a stall at Crystal Palace farmers’ market to now being stocked in independent shops and distributors like Wholefoods and Abel & Cole.

The company manufactures a range of cheese alternatives including its Kimcheeze and The Mouldy Goaty. Other top-selling products include its Sacre Blue and Holy Smokes.

Scaling up Palace Culture

Yvonne Adam, chief marketing officer at The Compleat Food Group, said: “Palace Culture was a natural choice to add to our portfolio of leading and distinctive brands that always bring something unique to the table, due to its high quality, exciting product offering and potential for growth. All of this supports our wider strategy and ambition to become the UK’s No.1 chilled prepared food company.

“Plant-based cheese is a fast growing, but relatively untapped, market and there is plenty of consumer appetite for genuinely delicious vegan cheeses. We’re now looking forward to using our expertise and scale to introduce shoppers to Palace Culture’s unique range of incredibly tasty products that we know they will love, and we hope to able to announce additional listings shortly.”

Mirko Parmigiani, founder of Palace Culture, added: “Born from our family kitchen in Crystal Palace, I combined a love of flavour, and a passion for health and sustainability, to create nut-based cheeses using raw ingredients. The result has been a range of award-winning delicious plant-based cheeses, and we’re extremely proud of the success the brand has had to date.

“Having seen how The Compleat Food Group has worked with the likes of Vadasz to retain its authenticity and incredible quality, we’re excited for the next chapter of Palace Culture’s evolution and to use The Compleat Food Group’s expertise to continue to innovate and introduce even more people to the world of plant-based vegan cheeses.”