Cerealis is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

food producer and the biggest milling company in Portugal, headquartered in

Maia Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; la, Maia), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus. Family Maia is the daugh ...

, and founded in 1919 as a

cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more foo ...

processing company. Cerealis Group has two divisions, food producer Cerealis Produtos Alimentares and

miller A miller is a person who operates a Gristmill, mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Mill (grinding), Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surname ...

Cerealis Moagens which produce and commercialise a range of products including

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, are ...

biscuits A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be s ...

cornflakes Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). The cereal, originally made with wheat, was created by Will Kellogg in 1894 for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he worked with his broth ...

as well as providing milled wheat flour and rye flour to the food manufacturing sector. Cerealis Group is a privately owned company and owns the Portuguese well-known brands ''Milaneza'' and ''Nacional''. The company's exporting branch, Cerealis Internacional, exports the groups's products, and has its main clients in the

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, Switzerland,

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Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mala ...

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Ál ...

and

Príncipe Príncipe is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Census;

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South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, and

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. In 2007, about 200,000,000 euros of products were exported by Cerealis.

History

Founded in 1919 by José Alves de Amorim and Manuel Gonçalves Lage, the company first started out in the milling business, supplying

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many c ...

for

bakeries A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish ...

. Spurred on by their initial success, the founders started diversifying. In 1933, they inaugurated a modern manufacturing plant to produce

s, launching them on the market with the Milaneza brand name. Milaneza become the leading Pasta-maker on the Portuguese market, being the first one of its kind to be certified. The Grupo Amorim Lage ("Amorim Lage Group") become one of the largest Iberian companies in the sector and the oldest in continuous operation in Portugal. Operating in a large number of markets, including the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

Portuguese-speaking African countries The Portuguese-speaking African countries ( pt, Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa; PALOP), also known as Lusophone Africa, consist of six African countries in which the Portuguese language is an official language: Angola, Cape Ver ...

, the

, and

, exports account for over 25% of the company's business turnover; the company continued to expand in the 2000s. In 2005, the Grupo Amorim Lage, affiliated with the

Associação Empresarial de Portugal The Associação Empresarial de Portugal (AEP) (Portuguese Business Association) is a Portuguese chamber of commerce, based in Porto, Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a cou ...

since 1930, with its subsidiaries Milaneza, Nacional, and Harmonia, was renamed and organized into a new company, Cerealis, SGPS, S.A., Cerealis Produtos Alimentares, S.A. In 2006, three companies (

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

Ebro Puleva Ebro Foods, S.A. (; ), formerly Ebro Puleva, is a Spanish food processing company. Ebro Foods is the world's largest producer of rice and the second biggest producer of pasta (its Panzani brand is a market leader in France). The company's head ...

and Grupo Gallo and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Barilla S.p.A. Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. is an Italian multinational food company. It is the world's largest pasta producer. History The company was founded in 1877 as a bakery shop in Parma, Italy by Pietro Barilla Sr. The company expanded in 1908, ...

) all rumoured to be interested in sealing a deal to acquire Portugal's leading pasta maker Cerealis. The proposed sale, according to Dow Jones, was worth over €100 million ( $121.12 million) but Cerealis management team refused the offers.PORTUGAL: Competition to acquire Cerealis intensifies
just-food.com

References

{{authority control Food and drink companies of Portugal Food manufacturers of Portugal Maia, Portugal