Kettle Foods, producer of KETTLE® Chips and owner of Metcalfe’s skinny®, has announced the acquisition of UK popcorn producer, Cornpoppers Ltd.

The move forms part of Kettle Foods’ ambition to build a portfolio of snack brands, following its acquisition of Metcalfe’s skinny® in 2016.

It also represents a “further commitment” to the popcorn category, as according to the company “the UK popcorn market remains one of the fastest growing categories within the UK snack food industry, growing by 10% over the last year as consumers increasingly seek out lighter snacking options”.

Based in Wednesbury, West Midlands, Cornpoppers Ltd was established in 1979 and is a privately owned family business supplying popcorn products to retailers and wholesalers.

Ashley Hicks, Kettle Foods managing director, commented: “The acquisition of Cornpoppers Ltd is the next exciting step in our transition to build Kettle Foods into a dynamic European snack foods business.

“We’re confident that this will create more opportunities with our trade partners in jointly evolving the full potential of the popcorn category and look forward to welcoming the team at Cornpoppers to Kettle Foods and working with them on making great tasting popcorn.”

Balvinder Nijjar, previous owner of Cornpoppers, noted: “With the support and expertise of the Kettle Foods’ team, I am delighted about the opportunity for Cornpoppers to expand and bring our snacking talents together.”