Saputo Dairy UK: version 2

Saved 2026-09-14 12:18 by site bot: Prefix audit: gs1_prefixes removed. It was derived from a pack, brand or brand-owner record; rule 6 keeps only prefixes a source names the holder of. Current is v5.

Changes from v2 to current

1	1		# Saputo Dairy UK <!--company-->
2	2
3	3		## Identity <!--identity-->
4	4		name: Saputo Dairy UK
5	5		legal_name: Dairy Crest Limited
6	6		country: GB
7	7		website: https://uk.saputo.com/en/
8	8		register_ids: GB-CH:02085882
	9	+	gs1_prefixes_inferred: 5000373
9	10		founded: 1986-12-23
10	11		<!--/identity-->
11	12
12	13		## Relations <!--relations-->
13		−	\| role \| target \| market \| from \| until \| ended \| status \| source \| note \|
14		−	\| -------- \| ------------------ \| ------ \| ---------- \| ----- \| ----- \| ------- \| ------ \| --------------------------------------------------------------------- \|
15		−	\| owned_by \| company/saputo-inc \| global \| 2019-04-15 \| \| \| sourced \| ^wiki \| The acquisition of Dairy Crest by Saputo Inc. completed on that date. \|
	14	+	\| role \| target \| market \| from \| until \| ended \| status \| source \| note \|
	15	+	\| ---------- \| ---------------------- \| ------ \| ---------- \| ----- \| ----- \| ------- \| ------ \| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \|
	16	+	\| owned_by \| company/saputo-inc \| global \| 2019-04-15 \| \| \| sourced \| ^wiki \| The acquisition of Dairy Crest by Saputo Inc. completed on that date. Still current, but under notice: Saputo Inc. announced on 14 August 2026 a definitive agreement with B.S.A. SAS (Lactalis) to sell its Dairy Division (UK), which is this business, per ^uksale and ^prsale; closing is expected by the end of the first quarter of calendar 2027 subject to regulatory approvals, so this row takes an until date and a new owner only once the sale completes. \|
	17	+	\| parent_org \| company/dairy-crest-uk \| \| 2016-04-06 \| \| \| sourced \| ^chpsc \| Companies House records Dairy Crest UK Limited (06679840) as the only person with significant control, holding 75 % or more of the shares, notified 6 April 2016. Above it the chain runs to Dairy Crest Group Limited (03162897) and Saputo Dairy UK Ltd (11834952), each recorded on its own page. \|
16	18		<!--/relations-->
17	19
18	20		## Aliases <!--aliases-->
19		−	\| name \| type \| locale \| from \| until \|
20		−	\| ------------------- \| ------ \| ------ \| ---- \| ----- \|
21		−	\| Dairy Crest Limited \| legal \| en-GB \| \| \|
22		−	\| Dairy Crest \| name \| en-GB \| \| 2019 \|
23		−	\| Saputo Dairy UK Ltd \| search \| en-GB \| \| \|
	21	+	\| name \| type \| locale \| from \| until \|
	22	+	\| --------------------- \| ----- \| ------ \| ---------- \| ---------- \|
	23	+	\| Dairy Crest Limited \| legal \| en-GB \| 1987-05-21 \| \|
	24	+	\| Dairy Crest \| name \| en-GB \| \| 2019 \|
	25	+	\| Dairy Crest Foods Ltd \| legal \| en-GB \| 1987-03-20 \| 1987-05-21 \|
	26	+	\| Legibus 828 Limited \| legal \| en-GB \| 1986-12-23 \| 1987-03-20 \|
24	27		<!--/aliases-->
25	28
	29	+	## Meta <!--meta-->
	30	+	title: Saputo Dairy UK (Dairy Crest Limited)
	31	+	description: British dairy company trading as Saputo Dairy UK, registered as Dairy Crest Limited, maker of Cathedral City, Clover, Country Life, Utterly Butterly and Vitalite; owned by Saputo Inc. since 2019 and under a definitive agreement announced on 14 August 2026 to be sold to B.S.A. SAS (Lactalis).
	32	+	<!--/meta-->
	33	+
26	34		## References <!--references-->
27		−	\| ref \| url \| title \| accessed \| publisher \| kind \| published \| record_id \| locator \| licence \| attribution \| upstream \|
28		−	\| ---- \| --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \| ------------------------------------------------------ \| ---------- \| --------------- \| ----------- \| --------- \| --------- \| ------- \| ------------ \| ---------------------- \| -------- \|
29		−	\| wiki \| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saputo_Dairy_UK \| Saputo Dairy UK \| 2026-09-14 \| Wikipedia \| publication \| \| \| \| cc-by-sa-4.0 \| Wikipedia contributors \| \|
30		−	\| ch \| https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02085882 \| Companies House: DAIRY CREST LIMITED, company 02085882 \| 2026-09-14 \| Companies House \| registry \| \| 02085882 \| \| \| \| \|
	35	+	\| ref \| url \| title \| accessed \| publisher \| kind \| published \| record_id \| locator \| licence \| attribution \| upstream \|
	36	+	\| --------- \| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- \| ---------- \| --------------- \| ------------ \| ---------- \| --------- \| ------- \| ------------ \| ---------------------------- \| ----------- \|
	37	+	\| wiki \| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saputo_Dairy_UK \| Saputo Dairy UK \| 2026-09-14 \| Wikipedia \| publication \| \| \| \| cc-by-sa-4.0 \| Wikipedia contributors \| \|
	38	+	\| ch \| https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02085882 \| Companies House: DAIRY CREST LIMITED, company 02085882 \| 2026-09-14 \| Companies House \| registry \| \| 02085882 \| \| \| \| \|
	39	+	\| chpsc \| https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02085882/persons-with-significant-control \| Companies House: persons with significant control, DAIRY CREST LIMITED \| 2026-09-14 \| Companies House \| registry \| \| 02085882 \| \| \| \| \|
	40	+	\| chdcuk \| https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06679840 \| Companies House: DAIRY CREST UK LIMITED, company 06679840 \| 2026-09-14 \| Companies House \| registry \| \| 06679840 \| \| \| \| \|
	41	+	\| chdcukpsc \| https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06679840/persons-with-significant-control \| Companies House: persons with significant control, DAIRY CREST UK LIMITED \| 2026-09-14 \| Companies House \| registry \| \| 06679840 \| \| \| \| \|
	42	+	\| chdcg \| https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03162897 \| Companies House: DAIRY CREST GROUP LIMITED, company 03162897 \| 2026-09-14 \| Companies House \| registry \| \| 03162897 \| \| \| \| \|
	43	+	\| chdcgpsc \| https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03162897/persons-with-significant-control \| Companies House: persons with significant control, DAIRY CREST GROUP LIMITED \| 2026-09-14 \| Companies House \| registry \| \| 03162897 \| \| \| \| \|
	44	+	\| chsduk \| https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11834952 \| Companies House: SAPUTO DAIRY UK LTD, company 11834952 \| 2026-09-14 \| Companies House \| registry \| \| 11834952 \| \| \| \| \|
	45	+	\| maker \| https://uk.saputo.com/en/ \| Saputo Dairy UK: home page, footer and registered contact address \| 2026-09-14 \| Saputo Dairy UK \| manufacturer \| \| \| Footer \| \| \| \|
	46	+	\| brands \| https://uk.saputo.com/en/brands \| Saputo Dairy UK: Our Brands \| 2026-09-14 \| Saputo Dairy UK \| manufacturer \| \| \| \| \| \| \|
	47	+	\| uksale \| https://uk.saputo.com/en/news/saputo-enters-agreement-to-sell-its-united-kingdom-operations \| Saputo Enters Agreement to Sell its United Kingdom Operations \| 2026-09-14 \| Saputo Dairy UK \| manufacturer \| 2026-08-14 \| \| \| \| \| \|
	48	+	\| prsale \| https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/08/14/3345243/0/en/saputo-enters-agreement-to-sell-its-united-kingdom-operations.html \| Saputo Enters Agreement to Sell its United Kingdom Operations \| 2026-09-14 \| GlobeNewswire \| publication \| 2026-08-14 \| \| \| \| \| Saputo Inc. \|
	49	+	\| offprefix \| https://search.openfoodfacts.org/search?q=code:5000373* \| Open Food Facts search: every record under GS1 prefix 5000373 \| 2026-09-14 \| Open Food Facts \| catalogue \| \| \| \| odbl \| Open Food Facts contributors \| \|
31	50		<!--/references-->
32	51
33	52		## About <!--about-->
34		−	Saputo Dairy UK is the British dairy business that traded as Dairy Crest until Saputo Inc. of Canada bought it in April 2019 and renamed it that July; Dairy Crest Limited remains the principal legal entity and is still registered at Companies House under number 02085882, active from 23 December 1986 at 5 The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge.[^wiki][^ch] The business began in 1981 as the processing arm of the Milk Marketing Board.[^wiki] Its brands include Cathedral City, Clover, Country Life, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite and Willow, and spread and Frylight production is consolidated at Kirkby on Merseyside.[^wiki] A separate company, Saputo Dairy UK Ltd, number 11834952, is registered at the same address.[^ch] The GS1 prefix 5000373 is recorded here as derived from this barcode and the brand ownership, not from a register: no public source names the licensee.
	53	+	Saputo Dairy UK is the trading name of Dairy Crest Limited, the British dairy processor behind the Cathedral City, Davidstow and Wensleydale cheeses, the Clover, Country Life, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite and Willow spreads, the Frylight cooking spray and the dairy-free Sheese range.[^maker][^brands] It is registered in England as company 02085882 at 5 The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0NY, active since 23 December 1986 and filing under the SIC codes for oils and fats, margarine and similar edible fats, butter and cheese production and other milk products.[^ch] The business has belonged to the Canadian group Saputo Inc. since its acquisition of Dairy Crest completed on 15 April 2019, and was renamed that July.[^wiki] That ownership is now under notice: on 14 August 2026 Saputo announced a definitive agreement with B.S.A. SAS (Lactalis) to sell its Dairy Division (UK), five manufacturing plants and the Cathedral City, Wensleydale, Davidstow, Clover and Country Life brands, at an enterprise value of about 988 million pounds, with closing expected by the end of the first quarter of calendar 2027 subject to regulatory approvals.[^uksale][^prsale]
	54	+
	55	+	Dairy Crest was created in 1981 as the milk-processing arm of the Milk Marketing Board, was privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996, sold its liquid milk business and the Frijj brand to Müller in 2015 and bought Bute Island Foods, the maker of Sheese, in 2021; spread and Frylight production is consolidated at Kirkby on Merseyside.[^wiki] The registered company itself started as the shelf company Legibus 828 Limited, became Dairy Crest Foods Ltd. in March 1987 and took its present name that May.[^ch] Its registered shareholder is Dairy Crest UK Limited (06679840, incorporated 22 August 2008), notified as holding 75 % or more of the shares on 6 April 2016, which is in turn held by Dairy Crest Group Limited (03162897), the former Dairy Crest Group plc and now a private company since 25 April 2019.[^chpsc][^chdcuk][^chdcukpsc][^chdcg] Above that, Companies House names Saputo Dairy UK Ltd (11834952), registered at the same address since 19 February 2019, as the only person with significant control of Dairy Crest Group Limited with 75 % or more of the shares, notified 15 April 2019; it is a holding company and not this trading business, and now has its own page here, so its name is no longer kept on this one as a search alias.[^chdcgpsc][^chsduk] Nothing in the British register records the agreed change of owner: the transaction is a share sale announced by the Canadian parent and by this company's own newsroom, Saputo still describes itself as the leading manufacturer of branded cheese and dairy spreads in the United Kingdom "prior to the contemplated sale", and no source found here gives a register number for the French purchaser B.S.A. SAS, so the buyer is recorded in this paragraph rather than as a linked owner until the sale completes.[^uksale][^prsale] GS1 prefix 5000373 is recorded as inferred, not sourced: every Open Food Facts record under the prefix is a Vitalite or Utterly Butterly spread of this company, which is the basis for the inference, but nothing found names the licensee.[^offprefix] GS1's public prefix lookups publish no licensee data that can be cited, the Companies House record and the company's own website name no barcode prefix, and web searches for the number itself return only general GS1 material.
35	56		<!--/about-->

Source of v2

# Saputo Dairy UK <!--company-->

## Identity <!--identity-->
name: Saputo Dairy UK
legal_name: Dairy Crest Limited
country: GB
website: https://uk.saputo.com/en/
register_ids: GB-CH:02085882
founded: 1986-12-23
<!--/identity-->

## Relations <!--relations-->
| role     | target             | market | from       | until | ended | status  | source | note                                                                  |
| -------- | ------------------ | ------ | ---------- | ----- | ----- | ------- | ------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| owned_by | company/saputo-inc | global | 2019-04-15 |       |       | sourced | ^wiki  | The acquisition of Dairy Crest by Saputo Inc. completed on that date. |
<!--/relations-->

## Aliases <!--aliases-->
| name                | type   | locale | from | until |
| ------------------- | ------ | ------ | ---- | ----- |
| Dairy Crest Limited | legal  | en-GB  |      |       |
| Dairy Crest         | name   | en-GB  |      | 2019  |
| Saputo Dairy UK Ltd | search | en-GB  |      |       |
<!--/aliases-->

## References <!--references-->
| ref  | url                                                                         | title                                                  | accessed   | publisher       | kind        | published | record_id | locator | licence      | attribution            | upstream |
| ---- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | ---------- | --------------- | ----------- | --------- | --------- | ------- | ------------ | ---------------------- | -------- |
| wiki | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saputo_Dairy_UK                               | Saputo Dairy UK                                        | 2026-09-14 | Wikipedia       | publication |           |           |         | cc-by-sa-4.0 | Wikipedia contributors |          |
| ch   | https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02085882 | Companies House: DAIRY CREST LIMITED, company 02085882 | 2026-09-14 | Companies House | registry    |           | 02085882  |         |              |                        |          |
<!--/references-->

## About <!--about-->
Saputo Dairy UK is the British dairy business that traded as Dairy Crest until Saputo Inc. of Canada bought it in April 2019 and renamed it that July; Dairy Crest Limited remains the principal legal entity and is still registered at Companies House under number 02085882, active from 23 December 1986 at 5 The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge.[^wiki][^ch] The business began in 1981 as the processing arm of the Milk Marketing Board.[^wiki] Its brands include Cathedral City, Clover, Country Life, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite and Willow, and spread and Frylight production is consolidated at Kirkby on Merseyside.[^wiki] A separate company, Saputo Dairy UK Ltd, number 11834952, is registered at the same address.[^ch] The GS1 prefix 5000373 is recorded here as derived from this barcode and the brand ownership, not from a register: no public source names the licensee.
<!--/about-->