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Associated British Foods plc is a British multinational food processing and retailing company whose headquarters are in London, United Kingdom. Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major producer of other ingredients including emulsifiers, enzymes and lactose. Its grocery division is a major manufacturer of both branded and private label grocery products and includes the brands Mazola, Ovaltine, Ryvita, Jordans and Twinings.〔 Its retail division, Primark, has around 200 stores with over of selling space across Austria,〔 Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and the United States.〔 Associated British Foods is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. == History == The company was founded by Canadian W. Garfield Weston in 1935, initially as ''Food Investments Limited'', with the name changing to ''Allied Bakeries Limited'' a month later. In 1960 the name was changed again to ''Associated British Foods.'' In 1963 the Company acquired Fine Fare, a leading British supermarket chain. Following the death of the founder in 1978, control of the company was passed on to his son Garry, while the North American operations fell to his son Galen. The company sold Fine Fare in 1986 and in 1991 went on to acquire British Sugar. In 1997 ABF sold its retail operations in Northern Ireland and the Republic to Tesco. These businesses were: Quinnsworth and Crazy Prices in the Republic of Ireland and Stewarts Supermarkets Ltd and Crazy Prices in Northern Ireland. This sale also included the Stewarts Winebarrel off-licence chain, Lifestyle Sports & Leisure Ltd (a retail sports and leisure business), Kingsway Fresh Foods (a meat processing facility) and Daily Wrap Produce (a fruit and vegetable packaging plant). In 2000 the company sold its interests in Burton's Biscuits. In 2002, it acquired the Mazola corn oil, Argo & Kingsfords corn starch, Karo and Golden Griddle syrups, and Henri’s dressing brands, along with several Canadian brands, from Unilever; in 2004 it acquired the Tone's spice business and Fleischman yeast business from Burns Philp; and in 2007 it purchased Patak's Indian food business.〔("AB Foods buys curry firm Patak's" ) ''BBC News Online'' Tuesday, 29 May 2007〕 On 26 March 2011 Associated British Foods, and its parent company Wittington Investments, were targeted over tax avoidance by UK Uncut during anti-cuts protests.〔(UK Uncut Occupy Tax Dodgers Fortnum and Mason ). 26 Mar 2011.〕 The tax avoidance scheme involved moving capital between ABF/Primark and the affiliated Luxembourg entity ABF European Holdings & Co SNC by means of interest-free loans, avoiding tax of about £9.7 million per year. The protest took the form of a mass sit-in in Fortnum & Mason.〔Video: (Occupation of Fortnum & Mason by UKuncut was peaceful ), by Sunny Hundal. 27 March 2011.〕 In February 2013, the firm was forced to deny “illegal and immoral” tax evasion after it was accused by an international charity of moving its profits outside of Zambia to reduce its tax bill. ActionAid said Zambia Sugar, a unit of AB Foods, had made profits of $123 million since 2007 but had paid "virtually no corporate tax" in Zambia. In October 2013, the company denied being involved in unscrupulous uses of land, in an article containing reports of forced evictions by other companies. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Associated British Foods」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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