Major food supplier Hilton Food Group has announced plans to sell its Dutch-based vegetarian business Dalco Food to Livekindly Production.

LiveKindly is set to acquire the business for a total of £5.4m, and the transaction remains subject to standard approvals and deliverables.

This move is part of the company’s strategy to redirect and focus investment on and drive growth from its core meat and fresh prepared segments.

Additionally, Hilton Food Group is working on directing its efforts to improve performance and maximise its value within the seafood, vegan and vegetarian businesses.

The Dutch-based vegetarian business reported an adjusted operating loss of approximately £2m in the first half of 2026, which will be posted as a loss from discounted operations.

Dalco is expected to be treated as an asset held for sale within the company’s 2026 interim results, which will be reported on 3 September 2026.

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Earlier this year, the company posted solid full-year results for 2025, with the core businesses boosting performance while Dalco continued to see sales decline and face challenges.

Hilton Food Group reported a revenue increase of 11.9 per cent on a constant currency basis despite a weak performance from Dalco Food.

Mark Allen OBE, Hilton Foods executive chair, said in a statement at the time: “We are executing improvement plans in Seachill, Foppen and Dalco, businesses that have limited synergy with the Group’s core capabilities, to increase strategic optionality.

“Our core retail meat offering is a resilient business. Despite continued raw material inflation, the strength of our customer relationships and consistent delivery has underpinned our performance.”