[4] Its retail division, Primark, has some 384 stores across several countries, predominantly Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, and the UK.

Associated British Foods is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

The largest acquisition at this time was in 1955 when Allied bought the British operations of the Aerated Bread Company, founded in 1862.

[7] With the acquisition of A.B.C., Allied almost doubled its share of the UK's bread market by the end of the decade.

[12] The company sold Fine Fare in 1986 to the Dee Corporation, and in 1991, went on to acquire British Sugar.

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).

[21] 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.

[22] 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.