LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. — The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. has acquired Tilda Ltd., a 100% branded Basmati and specialty rice products company headquartered in Essex, U.K. Tilda brand offers a range of more than 60 dry rice and ready-to-heat branded products under the names Tilda, Akash Basmati and Abu Shmagh to consumers in more than 40 countries, principally in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and North Africa, Continental Europe, North America and India.

Founded in 1972, Tilda is considered the first company to bring Basmati rice to the Western World. Basmati rice only may be grown in the Himalayan foothills and is known for its aroma and nutty taste.  Tilda Basmati rice is rich in nutrients and natural fiber. It is gluten-free and does not contain bioengineered ingredients. The company had annual sales of approximately $190 million in 2013 and is expected to be accretive to Hain Celestial’s adjusted earnings in the second half of fiscal year 2014 by 6c to 10c per share.  

“We are very excited by the strategic acquisition of Tilda, which expands our worldwide better-for-you product portfolio into the premium Basmati rice category along with other specialty rice products,” said Irwin D. Simon, founder, president and chief executive officer of Hain Celestial. “We plan to grow the Tilda brand further using our existing solid distribution platform in the United States, Canada and Europe with Basmati and ready-to-heat rice product offerings. Additionally, Tilda’s existing, fast-growing markets in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and India provide us with new markets for expansion of our global brands including Earth’s Best, Ella’s Kitchen, Celestial Seasonings,  Terra, Rice Dream and Almond Dream, to name a few.”

Shilen Thakrar, part of Tilda’s founding family, said that with the global market for Basmati rice and ready-to-heat products growing over the past several years, the time had come to align with a company “with the full resources, size and scale of Hain Celestial and its global platform of products in order to realize the full worldwide potential of our rice brands.