South African fresh produce company Capespan Group has followed up its recent purchase of logistics specialist Aspen International with the acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in Good View Group (GVG), a distributor of fresh fruit and vegetables in HOng Kong and Macau.
The investment, which was carried out by its wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary Metspan, is expected to accelerate Capespan’s planned growth in Asia, a region it regards as central to its future development and expansion as a multinational fresh produce supplier.
Announcing the deal, Capespan managing director Johan Dique said the move was motivated by a need to capitalise on rising demand in the Far East, which he said offered “the best growth opportunities” in the group’s global markets.
“Our investment in GVG is expected to greatly enhance our expansion capacity into these markets and support its transformation into a leading corporate enterprise in fresh fruit and vegetable supply in the region,” he commented.
Buying into GVG appears a sensible strategic move for Capespan, offering as it does direct and reliable access to a broad range of procurement options.
The distributor manages supply via a number of different channels, including hotels, food caterers, airlines, supermarkets, wholesalers and other retail markets.
“GVG is a prominent, independent market leader in Hong Kong and Macau’s fruit and vegetable wholesale market and a value added supplier of fresh juice, fresh-cut and pre-packed products,” Dique explained.
“[It] has a proven and successful business model of achieving substantial growth and scale, a broad supplier base, good client networking and a reputation of identifying and realising growth opportunities.”
Dique added that the deal was also expected to prove mutually beneficial from a cost saving perspective.
“Apart from opening up a wider distribution channel of downstream customers in the food service sector for Metspan, a broader channel into smaller retailers and wholesalers will be established.”
KT chiu! chief executive of GVG, welcomed the investment. “Capespan adds a wide spectrum of well-known brands and global sourcing capabilities into Good View Group’s portfolio. The future co-operation will be bright and promising.”
As a result of the deal, Metspan will also be able to market and distribute a value-added cut fruit range under the Cape brand in Hong Kong, whilst utilising GVG’s market penetration of high-visibility food service customers to build both the Cape and Outspan brands.
In turn, it is expected that GVG will be provided with the international procurement expertise, infrastructure and footprint of the Capespan Group to source product from various global sources and develop contract farming projects collaboratively to better service client needs.
