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Ebro Foods: The World's Rice & Pasta Empire
How a Spanish Sugar Company Transformed Into the Undisputed Global Leader in Rice and a Premium Pasta Powerhouse
I. Introduction: The Spanish Food Giant Hidden in Plain Sight
Step into any major supermarket from Houston to London to Dubai, and you'll likely reach for products made by a company you've never heard of. That box of Minute Rice in your pantry? The Success boil-in-bag packets? The elegant Garofalo pasta tubes on your dinner plate? The fragrant Tilda basmati rice in millions of British homes? They all trace back to the same Madrid headquarters—a sprawling food empire called Ebro Foods.
2024 was a year of consolidation and success for the Ebro Foods Group. Against a global backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, inflationary pressure and changing consumer habits, the company achieved its best ever Adjusted EBITDA, confirming a sound business model and an effective strategy. The company closed the year with a net profit of €207.9 million, up 11.2% on 2023.
Ebro posted an Adjusted EBITDA of €413.1 million, up 6.7% year on year, driven especially by the excellent development of its fresh pasta business, and a net turnover of €3,140.5 million, with a year-on-year growth of 1.8%. The EBITDA-A figure of EUR413 million is a record for the Group, even topping the figure achieved prior to the sale of its dry pasta businesses.
The central question that defines this company's remarkable journey: How did a Spanish sugar company transform into the world's largest rice producer and a premium pasta powerhouse?
This is a story of conglomerate simplification—the rare corporate discipline of knowing what to shed as much as what to keep. It's about the power of M&A in commoditized food, where scale matters but premium positioning matters more. And it's about a Spanish family-rooted enterprise that quietly conquered global pantries while competitors focused on flashier categories.
In geographic terms and by origin, the company's EBITDA-A breaks down as follows: Spain 3.1%, North America 34.8%, Rest of Europe 56.0%, Asia 4.8% and Other 1.3%. Spain, where the company is headquartered, now accounts for a fraction of its profits—a testament to one of the most successful international expansion stories in European food.
II. Origins: Sugar, Rice & the Spanish Food Industry (1903-1998)
The story begins not with rice paddies but with sugar beet fields in the plains of Castile and León. In 1903, Sociedad General Azucarera de España was incorporated—one of Spain's largest sugar producers in an era when sugar was a strategic commodity and protected markets made the business profitable.
The origins of the rice division in Spain date back to 1950, when Herba was founded. It began its international expansion in 1986 with the purchase of leading brands and companies in Europe, United States and Canada.
Antonio Hernández embarked on his career in 1979 in ArrocerĂas Herba, an enterprise founded by his grandfather that owned brands such as La Fallera, Brillante and Cigala, among others. The Hernández family's rice milling operation would prove to be the embryonic core of what would become a global giant.
Spanish rice cultivation is concentrated in three primary regions: the Ebro Delta in Catalonia, the marshlands along the Guadalquivir River in Andalusia, and the wetlands near Valencia. These fertile rice-growing areas gave rise to a fragmented industry of family-owned mills, each serving local markets with regional brands that had deep consumer loyalty.
The 1990s brought consolidation pressure across European agriculture. EU agricultural policy was shifting, commodity margins were compressing, and the logic of scale was undeniable. The origins of Ebro Foods can be traced to the Spanish rice sector in 1950, with the founding of Herba, marking the start of the rice business focused on milling and processing in key regions like the Ebro Delta. Ebro AgrĂcolas, with roots in the rice sector from 1950 via Herba and sugar activities from 1903 via its predecessor Sociedad General Azucarera de España, focused on rice milling and related agricultural processing by the 1980s.
In 1998, Azucarera Ebro, S.A. was incorporated as a dedicated food processing company, resulting from the merger of Ebro AgrĂcolas and the longstanding Sociedad General Azucarera de España (founded 1903), with primary emphasis on the domestic rice market alongside sugar production.
This was the first of many mergers that would define the company. But the sugar-and-rice combination was just the beginning—dairy would soon enter the picture, creating a sprawling Spanish food conglomerate.
The significance for investors lies in understanding the original DNA: a company born of mergers, comfortable with M&A complexity, and rooted in commodity food production. These traits would prove both limiting and enabling in the years to come.
III. The Conglomerate Era: Sugar, Dairy & Diversification (2000-2009)
On January 1, 2001, a transformative merger reshaped the Spanish food landscape. Sugar co-op Azucarera Ebro Agricolas merged with local dairy group Puleva, creating the business we know today. The resulting entity—Ebro Puleva—became Spain's largest food company by turnover, profit, and market capitalization.
Ebro was previously the largest manufacturer of value-added dairy products in Spain. The Puleva dairy business brought iconic Spanish brands including Puleva, Ram, and El Castillo—household names in milk, yogurt, and dairy-based functional foods. Puleva had even pioneered Omega-3 enriched milk in Spain, capturing two percent of the milk market with annual sales exceeding €110 million.
The company also was Spain's largest sugar producer prior to the divestment of that division to the British Sugar subsidiary of Associated British Foods in 2009.
But running this sprawling empire was increasingly difficult. The challenges were structural:
Sugar was declining: EU sugar sector reform was slashing Spain's sugar quota by 50%, forcing factory closures and compressing EBITDA. Three sugar factories faced closure, and the division's EBITDA was projected to drop from €120 million in 2005 to just €70 million for the 2009-2014 period.
Dairy faced private label pressure: Own label was particularly strong in milk and, with commodity prices falling in 2009, Spanish retailers pushed down consumer prices, hitting the brand owners. Ebro Puleva's dairy revenues fell by more than 12% in 2009 and sales from the unit are half those generated by the company's rice and pasta businesses.
Rice and pasta had global potential: Unlike the domestically constrained sugar and dairy businesses, rice and pasta had demonstrated the ability to scale internationally. The 2004 Riviana acquisition (discussed in the next section) had proven that a Spanish company could successfully acquire and integrate American food assets.
The conglomerate structure created competing priorities and diffused management attention. Sugar was a declining, politically managed commodity. Dairy was exposed to brutal private-label competition in an economically devastated Spain. But rice and pasta were building dominant positions in large, stable markets.
Antonio Hernández Callejas, Chairman of Ebro Puleva, announced: "We are very pleased with the agreement reached with ABF, which will enable us to meet two goals: on the one hand, it represents a breakthrough for the construction of an entirely consumer-geared multinational focusing on high value-added products, and on the other hand, it guarantees the best possible development of our sugar business through its incorporation in a leading European food company, the second largest sugar producer in the world."
The stage was set for a strategic pivot that would fundamentally transform the company.
IV. Inflection Point #1: U.S. Expansion & Riviana Acquisition (2004)
The deal that changed everything was announced in the summer of 2004. A Spanish food company with dominant positions in its home market was about to make an audacious bet on America.
In 2004, Ebro Foods, the global leader in the rice sector and the second leading pasta manufacturer in the world, entered the U.S. market with its acquisition of Riviana Foods which purchased American Rice in 2011.
Ebro Puleva, S.A. announced it entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Riviana Foods Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $380 million before assumption of debt.
Why was a Spanish company buying the largest U.S. rice company? The logic was counterintuitive on the surface but brilliant strategically. Spain had limited growth potential in rice—the market was mature, and EU protections were eroding. America, by contrast, offered scale, established brands, and a platform for further consolidation.
According to management, "Riviana is a market leader in the U.S. with a strong portfolio of brands, and represents an excellent fit with Ebro Puleva from a strategic point of view. The transaction provides us penetration in the U.S. market and improves our balance between domestic and international business, giving us worldwide leadership in rice. We believe the transaction will be EPS accretive in fiscal year 2004."
Riviana's heritage was as deep as American rice itself. A consortium led by Frank A. Godchaux Sr. purchased 30 rice mills in Southwest Louisiana to form Louisiana State Rice Milling Company in Abbeville, Louisiana in 1911.
By 1910, American rice growers and millers faced a serious problem—a market glut created by overproduction and a price that had bottomed out. The industry was plagued by its haphazard, inefficient system of small, independent mills, which were driving milling costs up and quality down. In 1911, looking for a solution for Louisiana rice producers, a consortium of millers merged to become Louisiana State Rice Company.
The Godchaux family had steered Riviana through decades of consolidation. In 1965, Louisiana State Rice Milling Company merged with River Brand Rice Mills, Inc to form Riviana Foods Inc. After being acquired by Colgate-Palmolive in 1976, and then sold back to the Godchaux family in 1986, Riviana became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ.
The merger followed a cash tender offer for all the outstanding shares of common stock of Riviana at a price of US$25.75 per share, which was completed upon the expiration of a subsequent offering period on September 1, 2004. As a result of the merger, each outstanding share of Riviana common stock was automatically converted into the right to receive US$25.75 per share in cash.
Riviana Foods is the largest processor, marketer and distributor of branded and private label rice products in the United States with well-known brands as Minute®, Success®, Mahatma®, Carolina®, River®, Water Maid®, Gourmet House®, Blue Ribbon®, Wonder®, Comet®, Adolphus® and RiceSelect®.
The acquisition gave Ebro instant scale in the world's largest consumer market. But more importantly, it demonstrated something crucial about the company's M&A capabilities: they could successfully integrate a foreign acquisition while preserving the institutional knowledge and brand equity that made the target valuable.
V. Building the Pasta Empire: New World Pasta & Panzani (2006)
Having proven the model with Riviana, Ebro moved quickly to build a parallel platform in pasta. The strategic logic was elegant: rice and pasta are both staple carbohydrates, share similar manufacturing processes and distribution channels, and can leverage common retail relationships.
In 2006, Ebro acquired New World Pasta, producer of Ronzoni, San Giorgio and other products, and which is also now under the Riviana corporate umbrella.
New World Pasta brought an impressive roster of American heritage brands. San Giorgio traced its roots to 1914, when the Keystone Macaroni Company in Lebanon, Pennsylvania was renamed. By 1950, San Giorgio went from producing 100 pounds of pasta a day to 400,000 pounds per week. Hershey Foods Corporation acquired San Giorgio in 1966.
American Beauty was founded in 1916 after the Kansas City Macaroni and Importing Co. merged with the Denver Macaroni Company. It was acquired by Hershey Foods Corporation in 1984 before being sold to New World Pasta, which in turn was acquired by Ebro Foods S.A. in 2006.
The same year brought another critical rice acquisition: In 2006, Riviana acquired Minute Rice, a brand of parboiled rice, from Kraft Foods. Minute Rice had extraordinary heritage—It started as a patented method for precooking and dehydrating rice before being used by the U.S. Armed Forces for G.I. rations during World War II. Minute Rice was eventually introduced to the greater population in 1946 and gained worldwide distribution in 1949.
In Europe, Ebro already controlled Panzani, the dominant pasta brand in France. The Panzani brand traces its origins to Lyon, France, where it had built an unassailable position in dry pasta, couscous, semolina, and sauces.
By the end of 2006, Ebro had assembled a formidable portfolio spanning two continents and two staple carbohydrate categories. Total sales of the merged companies were about $1.5 billion. Madrid, Spain-based Ebro Foods entered the U.S. market in 2004 through its acquisition of Riviana Foods.
The complexity was real. Managing dozens of brands, multiple factories, and regional consumer preferences required disciplined brand architecture. The playbook that emerged: keep local brand identities (consumers trust heritage), centralize back-office functions, and invest in innovation that could deploy across the portfolio.
VI. Inflection Point #2: The Great Simplification (2009-2010)
By late 2008, Ebro Puleva's leadership reached a strategic crossroads. The company was profitable but unfocused—a sprawling conglomerate with sugar, dairy, rice, pasta, tropical fruits, and various other holdings. Two of these businesses were clearly draining management attention and capital from higher-potential categories.
The sugar divestiture came first.
On April 30, 2009, Ebro Puleva and Associated British Foods completed the contract for the sale of Azucarera Ebro. As of that date, Azucarera Ebro became fully owned by ABF.
The terms of the transaction were as follows: ABF purchases the sugar business for 385 million euro, debt free. Ebro Puleva receives a further 150 million euro in other compensations, mainly from the restructuring funds established under the CMO sugar reform.
Then came dairy—the more emotionally difficult exit. Puleva was a founding business, deeply tied to the company's identity. But the strategic logic was inescapable.
On March 8, 2010, the directors of Ebro Puleva and the Lactalis Group reached an agreement in principle to sell the Ebro Puleva dairy business for 630 million euro.
On September 2, 2010, once approved by the European antitrust authorities, Ebro and Lactalis signed the contract of sale of Ebro's dairy business. This division is now wholly owned by Lactalis. As mentioned when the agreement in principle was announced, the reference value of the transaction is 630 million euros.
Ebro Puleva sold its sugar business, Azucarera Ebro, to the UK's Associated British Foods, a deal seen as part of a policy of focusing on rice and pasta, as well as dairy, one of the founding businesses of the company.
The name change that followed in June 2010 signaled the transformation. Ebro Puleva became simply Ebro Foods—shedding the dairy heritage in the corporate name to signal a focused future.
This transaction gave Ebro considerable financial strength to undertake further strategic development, through which it aimed to bolster its position as world leader in the rice sector through organic and inorganic growth, move further towards its goal of establishing itself as leading pasta manufacturer worldwide and become an international benchmark in the meal solutions sector.
The combined proceeds from sugar (€535 million including restructuring funds and land) and dairy (€630 million) totaled well over €1 billion. Ebro used this capital to pay down debt, fund acquisitions, and reward shareholders—all while dramatically sharpening its strategic focus.
Ebro Foods is the product of a transformation begun in the year 2000. After completing a major process of expansion, internationalisation, restructuring and divestment from businesses that hampered progress towards international leadership (dairy and sugar), the company is now global leader in rice production and second worldwide in the fresh and dry pasta sectors.
VII. Consolidation & U.S. Dominance (2011-2017)
With a simplified portfolio and substantial firepower, Ebro embarked on an aggressive consolidation phase that would cement its position as the undisputed global rice leader.
Ebro Foods and SOS Corporación Alimentaria signed the master agreement for the purchase by Ebro of the SOS rice businesses in Spain, USA, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands, and the SOS brand worldwide. This agreement goes hand-in-hand with the one signed for the purchase of the Saludaes brand in Portugal. The overall price of these acquisitions is €205 million.
The SOS transaction was particularly significant because it brought the iconic SOS brand—one of the most recognized rice brands in Spain—into Ebro's portfolio. SOS Corporación Alimentaria had fallen into financial distress, creating an opportunistic acquisition for Ebro.
In 2011, Riviana Foods Inc. acquired American Rice, Inc., which owned several rice brands, including Comet Rice and Blue Ribbon Rice. Originally purchased by American Rice, Inc. in 1975, Blue Ribbon Rice was acquired by Riviana Foods Inc. when American Rice, Inc. was purchased from Grupo SOS in 2011.
The consolidation of American rice assets was dramatic. By 2017, Ebro was ready to unify its U.S. operations.
The merger combined Ebro Foods' U.S. rice and pasta companies on Jan. 1, 2017. The combined rice and pasta products portfolio included such brands as Minute, Mahatma, Carolina, Success, Gourmet House, Adolphus, Blue Ribbon, Ronzoni, Skinner, Prince, American Beauty, San Giorgio, Creamette and No Yolks. Total sales of the merged companies were about $1.5 billion.
Riviana Foods Inc. merged with American Rice, Inc. and New World Pasta Co. in 2017, becoming the largest manufacturer and marketer of rice products and second largest of pasta products in the United States. Its estimated sales revenue at the time was $1.5 billion.
The integration playbook was consistent: preserve brand identities that resonated with regional consumers while consolidating manufacturing, distribution, and back-office functions. Mahatma dominated the South, Carolina the Northeast, Minute Rice nationwide. Each brand maintained its distinct consumer positioning while benefiting from shared scale economies.
VIII. Inflection Point #3: The Premium Pivot—Garofalo Acquisition (2014)
While building scale in commodity rice and pasta, Ebro's leadership recognized a parallel opportunity: premium positioning in categories otherwise dominated by price competition.
On June 4, 2014, Ebro Foods reached a binding agreement for the purchase of a majority shareholding (52%) in the Italian company Pastificio Lucio Garofalo, S.p.A. for a sum amounting to € 62.5 million.
Garofalo was not just another pasta company. Its history goes back more than 100 years, when it was granted an exclusive licence by Royal Decree to install a pasta plant in Gragnano (Naples), considered the cradle of pasta thanks to its privileged location between the mountain and the sea, which favours the ideal climate for pasta production and subsequent drying. Pasta Garofalo is a business with a glorious history dating back more than a hundred years.
Under the Garofalo signature brand, the company recorded exponential growth being the fastest growing pasta brand for the last decade in Italy, in a highly competitive market. The company's gross revenues grew from €30 million for 2002 to over €134 million for 2013.
Antonio Hernández Callejas, Chairman and CEO of Ebro Foods, stated: "We have chosen Garofalo for the quality of its product, the excellent results it has achieved over time and for the people who, especially over the past 15 years, have contributed to this extraordinary development and with whom we have found a perfect professional and personal understanding. Acquiring an interest in Garofalo is part of our strategy to grow in the premium segment through a prestigious Italian pasta brand."
With this acquisition Ebro showed its confidence in the potential of Italian pasta of the highest quality; the production and consumption of the so-called "pasta di Gragnano" is part of the Italian gastronomic tradition and culture. The partnership with the leading player Garofalo would allow Ebro to cooperate in the development and international promotion in the premium segment.
The acquisition sparked controversy in Italy. News of the deal sparked immediate outcry from Italian agrifood association Coldiretti as the latest in a growing tide of encroachment on Italian food producers. "With the sale of Garofalo pasta, the Spanish have exceeded 10 billion euros worth of historic Italian agrifood brands that have passed into foreigners."
Garofalo pasta Chief Executive Massimo Menna countered that the Ebro takeover "represents value for the Italian System and should not be read as a 'piece of Italy that is going away'." "Our company is healthy and strong, and this has put us in an optimal position to seize the best opportunities for growth," Menna said.
The premium pivot extended to fresh pasta. In 2018, Ebro, through its 100% subsidiary Panzani and Pastificio Lucio Garofalo SpA, reached a binding agreement for the purchase of a majority shareholding (70%) in the Italian company Bertagni 1882 SpA. Bertagni, with production plants in Vicenza and Avio (Italy) and a workforce of 275 employees, is known as the oldest brand of filled pasta in Italy and a specialist of the fresh pasta premium segment.
Ebro considered this acquisition "a great opportunity to accelerate its growth in the promising fresh segment and become the second largest producer of fresh pasta in the world, within Ebro's strategy of consolidating its growing in all segments of fresh food." Given the slow growth consumption environment in Europe's pasta market, increasing exposure to more buoyant fresh pasta made a lot of sense.
IX. Inflection Point #4: Tilda Acquisition & UK Expansion (2019)
The premium pivot reached its fullest expression with the August 2019 acquisition of Tilda—a name synonymous with quality basmati rice in British households.
As part of its strategy to become a global benchmark in premium food, Ebro Foods, S.A. purchased from Hain Celestial 100% of the companies and assets through which the global Tilda business is conducted. Tilda is a premium rice brand of international repute, primarily in basmati rice. It is present in several countries on the five continents, with particular renown and importance in the UK market.
Ebro Foods S.A. acquired the rice brand Tilda from the Hain Celestial Group, Inc. for $342 million in cash. The transaction included two plants in Rainham, U.K., and a workforce of 326.
Tilda's net sales in the past year, up to June 2019, totalled GBP 152.6 million, 60% of which were in the UK and 92% corresponded to basmati.
The purchase price reflected an adjusted EBITDA multiple of 13.5x. This was a premium valuation, reflecting Tilda's brand strength and the strategic importance of establishing a UK beachhead.
Through this acquisition, Ebro not only enhanced its portfolio of global premium brands in the rice sector, but also acquired a strong foothold in the British market, where it had to date had only a token presence.
The seller, Hain Celestial, explained their rationale. "Tilda did not fit in that bucket, but what we did get on Tilda was an unsolicited offer at a very premium valuation, which forced us to take a look at it and say, it's now time to sell this business. I would tell you there are several factors in our decision to sell it. One obviously was the valuation, which was 13.5x."
Hain believed "this transaction represents a significant premium to a majority of other European food and global rice and pasta industry transactions over the last several years. In addition, this divestiture will enable us to reduce our exposure to marketplace disruption associated with the uncertainty of Brexit."
Ebro saw opportunity where Hain saw risk. The integration proved successful. The company's international expansion, increasing presence in new markets within Africa and Australia, the growth of convenience products and the lower prices of raw materials such as Basmati rice were key to achieving 2024 results.
X. Inflection Point #5: The Great Dry Pasta Divestiture (2020-2021)
Just as Ebro had shed sugar and dairy a decade earlier, the company now faced another strategic crossroads. Commodity dry pasta—the business that had helped build the company—was no longer aligned with its premium, fresh, and convenience-focused future.
In December 2020, TreeHouse Foods announced that it completed the acquisition of the majority of Ebro's Riviana Foods U.S. branded pasta business for $242.5 million in cash.
The business sold comprised several of the Ebro Group's dry pasta and noodles brands in the USA and the St. Louis plant, while the Ebro Group preserved its iconic brand Ronzoni, present throughout the US market, and its Fresno and Winchester plants.
But even Ronzoni was not sacred. In June 2021, the business closed the sale of its Ronzoni dry pasta business and the dry pasta plant in Winchester, USA, in a transaction valued at $95 million.
The largest divestiture was yet to come. The transaction was valued at €550 million and comprised the sale of 100% of the share capital of Panzani S.A.S. CVC Capital Partners VIII and the Ebro Group entered into exclusive discussions for the acquisition by CVC Capital Partners VIII of Panzani dry pasta, couscous, sauces and semolina business.
More specifically, the transaction included: 1) the Panzani®, Ferrero®, Regia®, Zakia® and Le Renard® brands, and 2) all the operating assets (including plants and mills) related to these brands. The business perimeter contemplated in the transaction posted a turnover of €470 million in 2020 and employs 750 employees. It remains headquartered in Lyon, France.
Ebro Foods said it would sell France-based Panzani's dry pasta, semolina, couscous and sauces, but would keep the division that makes fresh products and rice. The company booked a €91 million capital gain from the sale.
Prior to the envisaged transaction, the fresh pasta and rice businesses, including leading brands Lustucru Selection® and Taureau Ailé®, would be carved-out and therefore remain within the Ebro Group.
The sale is part of Ebro's strategy to focus on premium and fresh products. The company has offloaded in recent months dry pasta units in Canada and the United States.
Despite selling the Ronzoni business, Ebro retains a solid presence in the US pasta market, through its Garofalo and Bertagni brands.
XI. The Modern Ebro: Premium Rice & Fresh Pasta (2022-2025)
Having completed the strategic transformation, Ebro entered 2022 as a fundamentally different company. Gone were the commodity dry pasta businesses. What remained was a focused portfolio of premium rice, fresh pasta, and convenience products.
In February 2022, the Ebro Group, through its US subsidiary Riviana Foods, reached a binding agreement to purchase the assets comprising the business of InHarvest. InHarvest is a US company with a strong presence in the industrial (B2B), Food Service and Private Label businesses for premium specialities in rice, quinoa and grains in the United States.
This acquisition includes the two plants operated by InHarvest in Colusa and Woodland (California), strategically situated in the rice-growing areas of western United States, where the Ebro Group did not yet have any factories.
Riviana Foods Inc., a subsidiary of Madrid, Spain-based Ebro Foods S.A., agreed to acquire the assets of InHarvest, Inc. for approximately $48.75 million. Headquartered in Bemidji, Minn., with two production facilities in Colusa and Woodland, Calif., InHarvest specializes in the production, marketing and sale of premium specialty rice, quinoa and grains. InHarvest employs approximately 140 and generated sales of approximately $50.3 million in 2020.
2024 was a year of consolidation and success for the Ebro Foods Group. Against a global backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, inflationary pressure and changing consumer habits, the company achieved its best ever Adjusted EBITDA, confirming that it has a sound business model and an effective strategy. Some of the levers that boosted the Group's excellent performance were geographical diversification, the recovery of yield in fresh pasta businesses, diligence in addressing the challenges posed by inflation in raw materials and logistics and the success and good acceptance by consumers of the new launchings in the high value added categories of rice and pasta.
As regards the evolution of Business Areas, the Rice Division maintained an extraordinary performance, consolidating its market positions in a fiercely competitive environment marked by the relentless growth of private label brands. Division turnover totalled €2,454 million and Adjusted EBITDA, €326.2 million. International expansion, increasing presence in new markets within Africa and Australia, the growth of convenience products and the lower prices of raw materials such as Basmati rice were key to achieving these results.
The Pasta Division also closed an excellent year, reaching a sales volume of €691.8 million with an Adjusted EBITDA of €104.5 million, within which both the positive development of the fresh pasta business through Lustucru in France and Olivieri in Canada, and the leadership of Garofalo in the premium segment, accelerating its expansion in key markets such as the United States and Spain, were highlighted.
The company completed its Strategic Plan 2022-2024 with enormous success, overcoming challenges, consolidating leadership in the sector and laying the foundations for an even more promising future. It began 2025 with a new Strategic Plan 2025-2027, launched in a complex global context marked by geopolitical tensions, changes in consumer habits and increasingly fierce competition. The focus is on consolidating profitability, maintaining competitiveness in respect of private label brands and improving industrial efficiency with new technologies.
XII. Ownership Structure & Governance
Understanding Ebro Foods requires understanding its unusual ownership structure—a web of Spanish family holding companies and industrial investors that has provided remarkable strategic continuity.
The company's largest shareholder is CorporaciĂłn Financiera Alba, S.A., with ownership of 15%. With 12% and 10% of the shares outstanding respectively, S.A. Damm and Alimentos Y Aceites, S.A. are the second and third largest shareholders.
The March family own 14.52% of the company through Corporacion Financiera Alba. The March family is one of Spain's most influential and affluent families, with a legacy deeply rooted in the country's financial and industrial sectors.
The directors Hercalianz Investing Group, S.L., Grupo TradifĂn, S.L., CorporaciĂłn Financiera Alba, S.A. and Empresas Comerciales e Industriales Valencianas, S.L. are significant shareholders of Ebro Foods, S.A.
The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 52%, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
There were no significant movements in the shareholding structure during 2023.
This creates a combination of powerful interests in the shareholder structure: A rice manufacturing family, a finance and banking family, a nobility & industrial family plus a successful individual with links to other established Spanish business families. The biggest Spanish food processor is a strategic asset which attracts established power, where the goal is to preserve and not to speculate.
At the helm stands Antonio Hernández Callejas, whose family founded the Herba rice business that became the core of modern Ebro.
Hernández was born in Tudela, Navarra on July 20th, 1955, and graduated in Economics from the University of Seville; he also studied law for three years. Hernández started out at ArrocerĂas Herba in 1979, a company owned by his family.
Herba was an enterprise founded by the Hernández family. In 2002, Mr Hernández Callejas was appointed Director, Vice-Chairman and member of the Executive Committee of Ebro Foods, S.A. and since then he has been a key figure in the transformation and international expansion of Ebro. In 2004, he was appointed Managing Director and in 2005 he became Executive Chairman of the Ebro Group.
Under his chairmanship, Ebro Group has risen to number one in the global rice sector, the second manufacturer worldwide in the pasta sector and has positioned itself in over 70 countries in Europe, America, Africa and Asia, with a portfolio of over 80 brands.
XIII. Business & Investing Lessons: The Ebro Playbook
Ebro Foods offers a masterclass in several strategic disciplines that investors should internalize:
The Simplification Playbook
From sprawling conglomerate (sugar, dairy, rice, pasta, tropical fruits) to focused platform (rice, premium pasta)—Ebro demonstrates that subtraction can be as valuable as addition. The €1+ billion received from sugar and dairy divestitures funded transformative acquisitions while sharpening strategic focus. The later €750+ million from dry pasta divestitures funded further premium investments.
M&A as Core Competency
Ebro has completed dozens of acquisitions across multiple decades and geographies. The integration playbook is consistent: preserve brand identities, consolidate operations, invest in innovation. Critically, management has shown willingness to divest when businesses no longer fit strategy—a discipline that eludes many serial acquirers.
Premium Positioning in Commodities
The Garofalo and Tilda acquisitions illustrate how to extract value from staple foods. Rather than competing purely on price in commodity rice and pasta, Ebro has systematically built positions in premium segments where brand loyalty justifies higher margins.
Geographic Diversification Done Right
Spain accounts for just 10% of turnover. The transformation from Spanish domestic player to global operator—with dominant positions in Spain, US, UK, and France—provides natural hedges against regional economic cycles.
Capital Allocation Discipline
Ebro has been able to reduce bank borrowings while improving dividends, securing a solid financial position and creating even more value for shareholders.
The profit generated by the Ebro Foods Group in 2024 makes it possible to propose the payment of a cash dividend of 0.69 euros per share, payable in the course of 2025, in a total amount of 106,167 thousand euros. The dividend will be paid out in three equal instalments of 0.23 euros per share on April 1, June 30, and October 1, 2025.
XIV. Porter's Five Forces Analysis
1. Threat of New Entrants: LOW-MEDIUM
High barriers exist from scale economies in milling and processing. Ebro's network of facilities across key rice-growing regions creates cost advantages that new entrants cannot easily replicate. Established distribution relationships with major retailers like Walmart, Carrefour, and Tesco represent decades of relationship building. Brand recognition in premium segments (Tilda, Garofalo) creates consumer loyalty that takes generations to build. However, private label competition is rising as retailers flex their bargaining power.
2. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: MEDIUM
Rice and wheat are globally traded commodities with multiple sources, limiting individual supplier power. The company has strategically diversified supply sources. The acquisition of InHarvest improved the supply chain, plant network and packaging and production capacity of the Ebro Group in the United States, providing access to California's rice-growing areas. However, weather events and policy risks (such as India export bans and regional droughts) can create short-term supply pressures.
3. Bargaining Power of Buyers: HIGH
Retailer consolidation creates significant pricing pressure. Major customers like Walmart, Carrefour, and Tesco command substantial negotiating leverage. Customer concentration risk affects both industrial and retail segments. Private label competition in commodity categories intensifies this pressure, as retailers can credibly threaten to shift shelf space to their own brands.
4. Threat of Substitutes: MEDIUM
Alternative carbohydrates (potatoes, bread, other grains) compete for stomach share. Low-carb diet trends periodically dampen demand for rice and pasta. However, rice and pasta are culturally embedded staples globally—half the world's population relies on rice as a dietary staple. The convenience category (microwaveable rice, ready-to-heat products) actually benefits from the broader shift toward quick meal solutions.
5. Competitive Rivalry: HIGH
The market remains fragmented with numerous regional players. By expertly managing our supply chain, we have managed to remain competitive in a market where private labels continue to gain traction, securing and even improving our market share. Despite continued gains by private labels, the Group recorded a slight uptick in market share, consolidating its position in a highly competitive environment.
XV. Hamilton's 7 Powers Analysis
1. Scale Economies: STRONG
Ebro is a multi-national food group operating in the rice, pasta and sauces sectors. It has commercial and industrial presence in more than 25 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa, through its extensive network of subsidiaries and brands. Manufacturing cost advantages derive from vertical integration, from sourcing to milling to packaging. Global sourcing capabilities enable optimization across rice origins. The Memphis facility expansion in 2024 ($80.6 million for microwavable rice cups and pouches) demonstrates ongoing scale investments.
2. Network Economies: WEAK
Food products don't benefit from network effects in the traditional sense—one consumer's purchase doesn't make the product more valuable to another consumer. This power is not applicable to Ebro's business model.
3. Counter-Positioning: MEDIUM
Ebro's premium focus (Garofalo, Tilda) creates differentiation versus commodity players. Garofalo maintains 6.8% volume and 7.8% value share in Italian dry pasta as of 2024. Larger commodity players cannot easily pivot to premium positioning without the brand equity and authenticity that takes generations to build. A Gragnano-based pasta with a Royal Decree heritage cannot be replicated by a commodity manufacturer overnight.
4. Switching Costs: LOW-MEDIUM
Consumer switching costs are low for staple foods—shoppers can easily choose a different rice brand next week. However, B2B industrial and food service relationships have higher switching costs due to supply chain integration, quality specifications, and relationship dependencies. Brand loyalty exists in premium segments where consumers develop taste preferences and associations.
5. Branding: STRONG
Ebro Foods maintains a diverse portfolio of 38 rice brands worldwide, emphasizing quality, convenience, and regional preferences across its rice division. The brand architecture—with regional leaders maintaining local identities (Mahatma in the South, Carolina in the Northeast, Tilda in the UK)—creates multiple moats rather than relying on a single corporate brand.
6. Cornered Resource: MEDIUM
The Gragnano location for Garofalo represents a unique terroir advantage—the specific microclimate between mountain and sea that has defined premium Italian pasta for centuries. Heritage brands like Minute Rice (WWII origins) and Tilda (decades of British consumer trust) represent intangible resources that competitors cannot easily replicate.
7. Process Power: MEDIUM
Decades of M&A integration experience represent accumulated organizational knowledge. The ability to acquire foreign assets, preserve local brand identities, consolidate operations, and extract synergies is a repeatable process that competitors would struggle to replicate without similar institutional experience.
XVI. Key Performance Indicators to Monitor
For investors tracking Ebro Foods, three KPIs matter most:
1. EBITDA Margin by Division
This metric reveals whether Ebro's premium positioning strategy is working. The company reports EBITDA-A (adjusted EBITDA) for both Rice and Pasta divisions separately. The EBITDA-A margin grew to 13.2%, with improvements in both divisions. Tracking this margin over time—particularly for the Pasta Division, which has higher premium exposure—indicates whether brand investments and premium positioning translate to sustainable profitability.
2. Volume Market Share vs. Private Label
Despite continued gains by private labels, the Group recorded a slight uptick in market share. In commoditized food categories, the secular trend toward private label is the primary competitive threat. Monitoring Ebro's ability to maintain or gain share against private label—particularly in core markets like Spanish rice, UK basmati, and French pasta—indicates brand health.
3. Premium Segment Revenue Growth
Track revenue and volume growth for premium brands (Garofalo, Tilda, Bertagni, Olivieri) relative to commodity brands. The strategic thesis depends on premium segments growing faster than commodity segments and commanding higher margins. Garofalo's double-digit growth in the US and Spain, and Tilda's expansion in Middle East and Africa, are the leading indicators of strategic success.
XVII. Risks and Regulatory Considerations
Commodity Price Volatility
Prices for the latest aromatic rice crop fell due to export policy changes in India. The durum wheat markets remain stable thanks to a solid harvest in Canada and improved global supply. Transport costs increased dramatically due to the temporary closure of the Suez Canal and troubles in the Red Sea. Geopolitical disruptions, weather events, and export policy changes in major rice-producing nations create ongoing cost volatility.
Private Label Competition
The new Strategic Plan 2025-2027 launched in a complex global context marked by geopolitical tensions, changes in consumer habits and increasingly fierce competition. The focus is on consolidating profitability, maintaining competitiveness in respect of private label brands and improving industrial efficiency with new technologies.
Currency Exposure
With over 90% of revenue outside Spain and significant operations in USD, GBP, and EUR zones, currency movements impact reported results. Currency had almost no impact on 2024 results, but this is not always the case.
Operational Disruptions
"Hemos logrado superar con Ă©xito diversas condiciones adversas, incluyendo la DANA en AlgemesĂ, el incremento en los costos de los fletes, el retraso en la finalizaciĂłn de inversiones en CAPEX y la escasez de personal de mantenimiento en EEUU y Norte de Europa, asegurando la continuidad operativa y la resiliencia de nuestro negocio." The DANA flooding event in Valencia demonstrated operational vulnerability, though management navigated successfully.
Debt and Put Options
The company ended 2024 with Net Debt standing at EUR593.2 million, EUR22.8 million higher than in December 2023. In relation to this debt: (i) the put options that minority shareholders have in certain businesses amount to EUR330 million, which is EUR60 million higher than at year-end 2023, and (ii) debt recognised under IFRS 16 amounts to EUR58 million. The put options with minority shareholders (particularly in Garofalo and Bertagni) represent contingent liabilities that could require future cash deployment.
XVIII. Conclusion: What the Ebro Story Reveals
The transformation of Ebro Foods—from Spanish sugar cooperative to global rice and premium pasta leader—offers lessons that transcend any single company.
First, conglomerate simplification works when executed with discipline. The willingness to sell profitable businesses (dairy was performing well when sold) in service of strategic focus is rare. Most management teams cling to businesses rather than recognize when they no longer fit.
Second, M&A excellence is a learnable capability. Ebro's track record of acquiring, integrating, and occasionally divesting assets demonstrates that serial acquisition can create value when combined with operational discipline and strategic clarity.
Third, premium positioning in commodities is possible but requires patience. The Garofalo and Tilda stories show that even in categories dominated by private label, brands with authentic heritage and quality differentiation can command premium pricing.
Fourth, geographic diversification provides resilience. Spain's economic crisis barely registered in Ebro's results because the US and European operations provided ballast. The current expansion into Africa and Australia continues this pattern.
All in all, the Chairman expressed pride that the company completed its Strategic Plan 2022-2024 with enormous success, overcoming challenges, consolidating leadership in the sector and laying the foundations for an even more promising future.
For long-term fundamental investors, Ebro Foods represents a case study in how patient capital, family-rooted governance, and strategic discipline can compound value across generations. The rice in your pantry has a story—and that story, it turns out, is surprisingly compelling.
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