LONDON — Unilever said Monday it has signed an agreement to sell its British healthy-snacking brand Graze to Germany’s Katjes International, which will place the business inside the Candy Kittens group. The Unilever Graze sale is the latest step in the consumer goods company’s effort to streamline its Foods lineup and sharpen where it invests for growth, Dec. 1, 2025.
Financial terms were not disclosed, and the companies expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2026, subject to customary conditions. In a separate report, Reuters reported the move fits Unilever’s wider shift toward beauty and wellbeing and comes as the company reviews other parts of its food portfolio.
Katjes said the purchase will be made through its subsidiary Future Snacks Ltd. and structured as a carve-out from Unilever. The buyer said the deal includes the full Graze brand and product portfolio, a production facility in London and the transfer of about 200 employees, and will be financed with existing cash and an acquisition loan, according to its press release.
Unilever Graze sale moves Graze under Candy Kittens in the U.K.
The Unilever Graze sale pairs Graze’s “better-for-you” positioning with Candy Kittens’ plant-based confectionery brand in U.K. grocery aisles. In Unilever’s announcement, Georgina Bradford, Foods general manager for the U.K. and Ireland, said Graze is “well positioned for its next phase of growth” under new ownership.
Katjes managing shareholder Bastian Fassin said Graze is “a perfect fit for our strategy to continue growing with strong consumer brands,” while Candy Kittens co-founder Jamie Laing said, “I’ve always loved Graze — they changed the way the UK thinks about healthier snacking.” Katjes said the two brands have overlap in customers and distribution channels and noted that Graze has been certified as a B Corp since 2021.
Why Unilever is pruning
Unilever has said its Foods ambition is to focus on three global categories — condiments, cooking aids and mini meals, and Unilever Food Solutions — and to prune the portfolio outside those areas. For investors, the Unilever Graze sale is another data point in a broader reset: fewer smaller food brands, and more emphasis on higher-margin growth engines.
Background: how the deal built over time
Unilever acquired Graze in 2019 as it pushed deeper into snacking; Reuters reported at the time that the purchase price was undisclosed. The Unilever Graze sale now closes that chapter, as the company rebalances its portfolio away from some niche food bets.
Speculation about a potential exit picked up this year. In June, FoodNavigator wrote that Unilever was considering a sale and cited banker estimates valuing Graze at £50 million to £80 million, though Unilever declined to comment at the time.
Katjes’ path to a bigger U.K. footprint also started earlier: the group increased its investment in Candy Kittens to a majority stake in 2019, ConfectioneryNews reported.
What happens next
The Unilever Graze sale is expected to close in the first half of 2026, after the U.K. employee consultation process and other customary closing conditions. Until then, any price talk remains unofficial: Sky News reported in late November that Katjes was in talks to pay about £35 million, but Unilever and Katjes have not confirmed a valuation.
Even without disclosed terms, the Unilever Graze sale will be watched for what it signals about Unilever’s wider reshape-and-focus plan — and for how quickly Katjes and Candy Kittens can scale Graze as a healthier snacking platform in the U.K.
