Total Produce has announced it has reached an agreement with the administrator, PricewaterhouseCoopers to acquire the trade and assets of Utopia UK Ltd.
To enable the full integration of Utopia into Total Produce UK, the newly acquired business will be named Total Exotics and will have sales of circa £25 million.
Based in Spalding, Utopia imports and supplies exotic fresh produce to the leading retailers in the UK as well as customers across Europe.
It has strong links with suppliers, procuring a broad range of some 60 niche exotic and tropical products from almost 40 countries worldwide and was described as “a welcome addition to the existing product portfolio of Total Produce”.
Total Exotics will continue to operate under the existing management team of Kevin Jameson and Nigel West and will benefit from the full support and strengths of one of Europe’s largest fresh produce companies with last reported annual sales in excess of €2.5 billion (£2.28bn).
The acquisition “will provide the opportunity to further increase the Total Produce business into an expanding market and will complement our existing business in this specialist area”.
Denis Punter, executive chairman of Total Produce UK, said in a statement: “The Utopia business has experienced a difficult last 12 months but the core business is sound and they have an excellent team.
“The financial stability and support that Total Produce will bring to the business will create an environment that will enable it to flourish and make Total Exotics a leading player in this sector.”
He told freshinfo: “We have been talking with Utopia for more than 20 years so we have had a running dialogue. It is an exceptionally solid and robust business in terms of the core team but they found the prepared fruit business tough.
“It was a logical step for us to support an excellent business with the right financial resources. Utopia has a good business in Central America, Asia and Africa and access to large suppliers, which will benefit business.
“The next step for us will be to talk to the staff and re-invigorate them, as it is not a pleasant time going through administration. The run-up to Christmas is the busiest time for produce businesses and our first priority is to make sure commitments to customers are met.
“We have particular synergies in sales and procurement and we think it will make a good fit.”
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