Albex Group acquires food decorations producer in £800k deal with Real Good Food

Rainbow Dust produces food colourings, paints and glitters that can be used as decoration on sweet bakes and confectionery by professionals and consumers.

Founded in 2008 and operating from a BRC AA+ accredited site in Preston, it also manufactures a variety of sugar craft essentials such as texturisers, icing whiteners and edible glue.

Albex supplies a range of bakers, confectioners, foodservice operators and retailers with its portfolio of ingredients brands. This includes specialists BFP, Henley Bridge, Kent Foodservice, Tom Walker & Sons, Yes Chef!, and now Rainbow Dust.

Other brands that fall under the group include Jones Kent, Kent Foods, Kent Foods BV and Artisan’s Choice.

Possessing a fleet of more than 60 vehicles, Albex owns 400,000 square feet of ambient and chilled storage across nine BRC accredited sites in the UK and Europe. Currently, it serves around 5,000 trade customers every year and generated sales of £304m in 2022.

Rainbow Dust to operate independently

Andrew Dalglish, a director at Albex, described Rainbow Dust as a “highly respected brand​” that the group was “delighted​” to acquire.

“Rainbow Dust has an excellent range of high-quality food art products well-known and loved by cake makers and confectioners from hobbyists to semi-professionals to larger manufacturers​,” Dalglish said.

“Like other companies in the Albex Group, Rainbow Dust will operate as an independent business with a sharp focus on the market they’re expert in, food colourings and decorations. However, we look forward to supporting them in realising their exciting plans by providing the financial backing and significant infrastructure of the Albex Group​.”

As a result of the sale of Rainbow Dust, Real Good Food is exploring strategic options which could involve the sale of its remaining business JF Renshaw.

In other news, PepsiCo has been sued by the state of New York for plastic pollution along the bank of a major river.​​