Swedish fresh food distributor Greenfood and Dutch fresh produce specialist Jaguar The Fresh Company have reached an agreement for Greenfood to acquire a minority stake in Jaguar.
The deal is expected to strengthen Greenfood’s sourcing programme, and at the same time provide Jaguar with a closer connection to some of Europe’s most important consumer markets.
Greenfood is one of the largest players in northern Europe’s fresh, healthy food market, and a European salad bar market leader through its subsidiary Picadeli.
The group also includes Greenfood Fresh Produce, a leading supplier of fruit and vegetables on the Scandinavian market.
“We are extremely pleased about the opportunities that this investment brings”, commented Ted Stenshed, chief executive officer of Greenfood’s Fresh Produce division. “By aligning the buying power of the two companies Greenfood creates a stronger position in the global fresh produce markets and can further strengthen its supply chain and customer offer.”
The collaboration with Jaguar gives Greenfood direct access to professional growers in those overseas countries where Jaguar has a strong foothold, such as South Africa, China, Peru, Egypt, and The Netherlands.
Together with Jaguar’s teams in these countries, Greenfood said it would be able to strengthen its fresh produce supply chain further and offer tailor-made, direct-from-farm solutions to its own group companies, as well as a newly combined customer base.
Kees Rijnhout, chief executive officer of Jaguar, described the partnership with Greenfood as an extremely complementary match.
“Jaguar has a long history in sourcing, importing, and marketing fresh produce from many overseas countries, whilst Greenfood has a strong position in supplying healthy, fresh convenience food, along with fruit and vegetables,” he noted.
“Combining Greenfood’s unique position on the Nordic market with Jaguar’s retail expertise in Europe, Asia, and Africa will enable us to boost market access on behalf of our worldwide growers.
“Very importantly, both companies have a strong position in sustainability. This forms the basis for creating new solutions to modern-day retail and foodservice requirements, based on transparency and integrity.”
