Sucafina Acquires UK Green Coffee Trader Complete Coffee Ltd

The Corinthian House building in Croydon, south of London, England, home to the offices of Complete Coffee Limited. Corinthian House promotional photo.

Vertically integrated Swiss green coffee trading company Sucafina has acquired a majority stake in UK trader Complete Coffee Limited (CCL), furthering its global expansion efforts.

The move, in which CCL’s Breminer family will retain some stake in the Croydon-based company, is expected to expand the trading capacity in the conventional and specialty green coffee as well as soluble (instant) coffee segments in the UK market and beyond.

The exact terms of the deal were not made public, although CCL’s leadership will remain intact, according to an announcement from Sucafina today.

“Although the company trades internationally, our biggest market is the United Kingdom,” CCL Executive Chairman Ian Breminer said in the announcement. “This partnership with Sucafina will enable us to bring economies of scale, many new origins, as well as risk management and finance strength to enhance our offers to our UK clientele.”

Complete Coffee Limited dates back to 1929, when it was founded as the trading firm Alan J. Ridge & Co Ltd. Ridge merged with Ernest A. Breminer Ltd. in 1943, and the combined company acquired London packaged coffee product seller Priory Tea and Coffee in 1986.

According to a Bloomberg report, CCL is a known supplier to the U.K.-based, Coca-Cola-owned coffee giant Costa Coffee, and since as far back as 1947, the company has had a supplier relationship with the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC).

Sucafina’s acquisition of CCL follows the Swiss company’s recent creation of a new company in China’s Yunnan province, the creation of the Sucafina Specialty brand for various global markets, and a flurry of other investments since securing an approximately $300 million syndicated loan in 2017.

With offices and operations throughout the coffee supply chain, the Geneva-based Sucafina Group now encompasses nearly 30 companies throughout the world, most of which bear the Sucafina or Sucafina Specialty brand name.