History
The origins of the Bolton group date back to the creation of Exportex, a distribution company focused on consumer goods, primarily imports. [4] [1] [5] The company was founded in Milan in 1949 by Joseph Nissim, a Greek-born Jewish immigrant to Italy. [6] Born in 1919, Nissim fled Thessaloniki when the Nazis invaded Greece. After escaping, he joined the British Army and fought with distinction at the battle of El Alamein. In 1947, he moved to Italy. [1]
Over the years, the business evolved into one of the largest Italian distribution companies for domestic and foreign consumer goods producers; [1] Exportex was the exclusive distributor in Italy for foreign companies and brands, such as the American Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark (personal care), and the British Beecham Group (pharmaceutical products). [7]
In 1960 Nissim acquired ICIS (Industria Carni in Scatola Italian for "Canned Meat Industry"), [8] [9] a client company of Exportex based in Cermenate that produced canned meat under the Manzotin brand. [10] Renamed Trinity Alimentari in 1965, [11] it diversified its activity with the launch of canned tuna production under the brand Rio Mare, [9] [8] which would become the company’s flagship.
By 1971 Exportex was present throughout Italy with branches and warehouses in Bari, Bologna, Catania, Florence, Oristano, Naples, Padua, Pioltello, Rome and Turin. [7] In the 1970s the company was also active in the chemical and household care sector through its subsidiary Nisco Chemical Italia. [12] In 1978, Trinity began its international expansion with the marketing of Rio Mare tuna in Greece, laying the foundation for the subsequent creation of a Greek subsidiary. [9]
Following the growth of the business, in 1978 a company named Bolton Group B.V. was established in Amsterdam, [13] [14] whose reference shareholder was Nissim. [15] In 1980 the Milan branch was opened [16] and in 1981 Bolton took control of Exportex and Trinity. [17]
The newly established group also took control of a 49% stake in Beecham Italia, of which Nissim was CEO, a subsidiary of the British pharmaceutical multinational Beecham Group. [18] [19] The company operated in the Segrate plant, [20] where it employed more than 200 workers, and produced personal care and hygiene products, including toothpaste under the Aquafresh brand. It was fully sold to Beecham in 1992. [21]
Bolton increased its presence in the chemical sector with the 1982 acquisition of Manitoba Paper Italia, a subsidiary of Kimberly-Clark, based in Rome with a plant in Melzo, [22] which produced paper and household and laundry care products. The company operated under the brands Fabello, Fornet, Glad, Intim, Kleenex, Kimbi, Kotex, Merito, Overlay, Sgorgo, TOT, Vitrexa, WC Net and Woolite. [23] It was later renamed Manitoba Italia and its registered office was moved to Milan. [24] [25] Bolton established itself as the market leader in Italy in the canned tuna sector, in which in the 1980s it was present with the brands Rio Mare and Carlos Primero, with a 25% market share. [26]
In 1986, through Trinity, the group acquired from the Benatoff family the SIE - Società Ittica Elbana S.r.l., a company based on the Elba island, [27] producing canned sardines under the Napoleon brand, in which it was the national leader. [17] [26] Bolton’s expansion grew further in the 1990s, with the acquisition of other companies and brands such as the Italian Brill, Manetti & Roberts (1992), Collistar (1993), Lines diapers (1994), the German UHU (1994), the Spanish CILE (1996), the Dutch Bison (1996), the French Rogé Cavaillé (1998) and Saupiquet (1999), and the Greek Athens Papermill (2002). [9] [28] [29]
In 2001 Bolton sold the diaper division of Lines to Kimberly-Clark Corporation, [9] and expanded its international presence with new branches in Western Europe. Between 2003 and 2006, the group opened subsidiaries in Slovenia, Austria and Croatia, thus entering the markets of Eastern Europe. [9] During the same period, the multinational also acquired the brands Kolmat (2004), Bostik (2006), Alco, Palmera, [30] Petreet and Sanogyl (2007). [9]
In 2012, the multinational carried out two major operations: it acquired 40% of the shares of Grupo Calvo, a Spanish canned fish producer that had controlled the Italian Nostromo since 1993; [31] and purchased from the American company Kraft, for about €100 million, the canned meat brand Simmenthal, which held 67% of the Italian market. [32] To avoid issues with the Antitrust, Bolton immediately put the Manzotin brand on the market; in 2013 it was acquired by the Genoese company Generale Conserve. [33]
In 2015, Bolton acquired 75% of Conservas Garavilla from MCH and Investment Portfolio Dularr, a Basque company specializing in canned fish, with plants in Bilbao, Ecuador and Morocco. The remaining 25% was acquired in October 2016. [34] [35] In 2016, Bolton had €1.96 billion in revenue and €210.8 million in profits. [36]
In 2018, Bolton announced the adoption of a more progressive tuna sourcing policy. Greenpeace had been critical of Bolton's sourcing practices. [37]
In March 2019 Joseph Nissim died at the age of 100. [38] In July of the same year, through its subsidiary Manetti & Roberts, Bolton acquired the entire share capital of Omia Laboratories, a company based in Cisterna di Latina, founded in 1997 by the Angioletti family and a leading player in the personal care sector. [39] In the same month, Bolton also took control of the American company Tri Marine, which manages a global tuna supply chain and generates revenues of more than US$1.2 billion. [40] Bolton had already acquired a minority stake in Tri Marine in 2013. With the full acquisition of Tri Marine, Bolton became the world’s second-largest operator in the sector, behind Thai Union Group. [41]
As a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, sales of the Bolton Group’s canned seafood products increased in Europe in early 2020s. [42]
In August 2021, Bolton acquired Wild Planet Foods, a company founded in 2004 that had become the leading producer of sustainable canned fish in the United States. [43] In December of the same year, it announced the acquisition of the Madel Group of Cotignola. [44] [45]
In 2023, the group expanded further with the acquisition of Unipak A/S, a family-owned Danish company active in Northern Europe and the Baltic states in the sealant products market. [46] In January 2025, Bolton enlarged its adhesives division with the acquisition of Repair Care, a Dutch company specializing in wood repair and maintenance products. [47] [48]
