Catupiry agrees to buy Leprino Foods’ Brazilian mozzarella business
Catupiry has signed an agreement to acquire Lactojara Laticínios, which comprises Leprino Foods’ Brazilian operations. The deal would add a Paraná mozzarella plant and milk collection network to Catupiry’s portfolio, although the source gives conflicting information on its antitrust status.
Catupiry moves to expand beyond its core portfolio
Brazilian dairy company Catupiry has signed an agreement to acquire Lactojara Laticínios, the local subsidiary through which US-based Leprino Foods operates in Brazil. The transaction would transfer Leprino’s Brazilian business to Catupiry and strengthen the buyer’s position in cheese and food-service products.
ND Mais reported that the acquisition is intended to expand Catupiry’s product range, reinforce its production base and increase distribution across Brazil. Catupiry already markets more than 130 products. The company, widely associated with its creamy cheese, is seeking broader access to business channels and greater capacity to serve professional food-service customers with high-performance dairy products.
Paraná plant and milk collection network included
Leprino’s Brazilian industrial operations are concentrated in Paraná state. Its principal factory is in Tapejara, in the northwestern part of the state, while milk collection points in Guaraniaçu and Santa Maria do Oeste supply raw material for local production. These assets would give Catupiry an established production and procurement network in an important Brazilian dairy region.
According to ND Mais, Catupiry expects the transaction to create opportunities to deepen partnerships with regional milk producers. For suppliers, the relevant issue will be how the new owner manages procurement, production volumes and product specialization after integration. Catupiry has said that the production units and brands will be integrated once the required regulatory procedures have been completed.
Deal targets food service and mozzarella expertise
Leprino Foods was founded in 1950 in Denver, United States. ND Mais describes it as the world’s largest mozzarella producer and a leading global supplier of high-performance dairy products for food service, including major pizza and restaurant chains. The group also manufactures milk-derived nutritional ingredients such as whey and lactose. In Brazil, these activities have been conducted through Lactojara.
The acquisition therefore gives Catupiry access not only to additional cheese capacity but also to Leprino’s local position in products designed for commercial kitchens. This could help Catupiry compete across a wider section of Brazil’s food-service dairy market, combining its existing brand and distribution reach with Lactojara’s industrial assets and mozzarella expertise.
Antitrust status remains unclear in the source
The ND Mais headline states that Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense, CADE, approved the deal. However, the article text says completion still depends on formal financial and regulatory steps and that the transaction remains subject to CADE’s assessment and subsequent approval. No purchase price, production capacity, timetable or employment impact was disclosed in the supplied material.
Until the regulatory position and closing conditions are clarified, the companies remain at the agreement stage described in the article. Catupiry said the process would follow its principles of transparency and corporate governance. Once completed, the deal would place Leprino’s Paraná manufacturing and milk procurement structure inside one of Brazil’s largest dairy groups, with the immediate strategic focus on portfolio expansion, domestic distribution and food service.
