Associated British Foods (ABF) is a multi-billion pound turnover British multinational with diverse food manufacturing interests and a secondary business in fashion retailing. It is headquartered in Knightsbridge, London, England, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.

ABF was incorporated in 1935. It was initially a baker, and it invented sliced bread in the 1930s. It has bought and sold many businesses around the world over the decades, including the British supermarket chain Fine Fare . ABF's current brands include Allison and Kingsmill bread, Ovaltine, Ryvita , Nelsons jam and Twinings tea. The group's subsidiaries include British Sugar, animal foodstuffs company Allied Grain and food ingredients company Abitec Corporation. It also owns two discount clothing retailers, Penneys and Primark .

The company sells its products throughout the world, with two thirds of its turnover coming from Europe. Its turnover for the 52 weeks to 15 September 2004 was £5.165 billion (just under $10 billion at that date), and net profit was £342 million.

The company was developed and is still controlled by the British branch of the Weston family, cousins of the Canadian Westons who built the leading Canadian food business George Weston, Ltd. George C Weston of the British Westons became chief executive of ABF on 1 April 2005, and WG Galen Weston, the chief executive of George Weston, Ltd, is a non-executive director.

External links

• Official site
• Yahoo! profile