It looks like Bright Foods has finally succeeded in an overseas acquisition. A key strategy is to build perception of quality at home by owning western companies - this also will work for the Flavor & Fragrance industry equally.

Bright Foods announced the acquisition of Australian manufacturer Massanen Foods this week. This, combined with speculation that it has shown an interest in a number of other international players hints at the scale of its plans. What exactly are Bright Foods' ambitions? Dean Best reports. By: Dean Best - 19th Aug 2011 just-food

For some time, there have been indications that Bright Food, China's state-backed food and beverage company, wants to be a force on the world stage.
If reports over the last 12 months are to be believed, China's state-backed Bright Food, keen to expand overseas, has held talks or lodged an interest in some of the best-known food makers in the West.
UK-based snacks group United Biscuits, yoghurt giant Yoplait and US vitamin retailer GNC are all said to have been on Bright Food's radar but, for one reason or another, no deals were made.
Bright Food did succeed with one transaction, the acquisition of a majority stake in New Zealand dairy firm Synlait in July.
Nevertheless, the failure to close a deal for UB, Yoplait and GNC, plus its defeat in the battle for Australian sugar processor Sucrogen, has raised questions about the seriousness of Bright Food's ambition - and its ability - to expand overseas.
However, the announcement Wednesday (17 August) that Bright Food had secured a 75% stake in Australian food producer and importer Manassen Foods could quieten the doubters. The deal, struck for an undisclosed sum but reported to value Manassen at A$500m, is Bright Food's biggest foray outside China.
Bright Food chairman Wang Zongnan pointed out the "synergies" the deal - which remains subject to approval from Australia's foreign investment regulator - could bring. Both companies, he said, could benefit from taking their products into the companies' respective domestic markets.
Whether Australian consumers would be ready to buy, for example, Chinese dairy products is debatable, given the recent food safety scares in the country. However, China provides acquires in place.
"Any company I am going to acquire must have an outstanding management team and I want that team to continue working for us because Bright has insufficient knowledge of international markets," Wang said.
For all the headlines around Bright Food's interest in the likes of UB and Yoplait, the Manassen and Synlait deals, opportunities for Manassen, not least, ironically, in dairy. Manassen, which is the distributor in Australia for brands owned by food makers in Europe like Premier Foods plc and Arla Foods, also has its own brands, including products under The Margaret River Dairy Company label. China's food scandals have also had an impact at home; concerned about safety, wealthy consumers have increasingly sought out imported dairy products.
Roy Manassen, the son of the company's founder, certainly seemed upbeat about the potential for Manassen in China and, he said, in Asia, too. "Our backyard has just grown significantly and we have the opportunity to make a major contribution into the most exciting region on the planet. I am very pleased to be part of it," he said.
Mr Manassen and other executives in the Australian company will keep a stake in the business and likely to be retained by Bright Food. Earlier this year, Wang told The Financial Times that he plans to keep the existing management teams of any companies Bright Food should, according to one industry consultant in China, help the company more effectively build its understanding of overseas markets.
"Acquiring a smaller brand in a more bounded market may make it easier to learn how to integrate a non-China based and owned-entity into the group, instead of going through that process with multi-category, multi-country business," Torsten Stocker, partner at management consulting firm Monitor Group's Shanghai office, tells just-food.
However, Stocker believes that, ultimately, Bright Food's ambitions reach beyond Asia-Pacific. He says the company wants to see a "significant increase in revenue". In 2009, Bright Food's turnover was CNY76bn, Stocker says and, by 2015, he claims the company wants sales of CNY110bn.
"From what I understand, they want to become a major food and beverage player globally, covering the full value chain, from basic resources to retail," Stocker says. "My sense is that they view themselves more as competing with a Nestle rather than with other Chinese players focusing on China only."
Manassen could be the latest in a line of acquisitions by the Shanghai-based, state-owned group. Bright Food's mettle has been tested by its failed pursuits of companies in Europe and the US but, by finding success close to home, they could find the ingredient to success further afield.