Total Produce has purchased the UK wholesale operations of The Greenery and reached an agreement to supply the Greenery’s Dutch salads and vegetables to markets across the UK.
Subject to final approval by the end of this month, the new venture brings The Greenery's UK wholesale market operations in Manchester, Glasgow, Gateshead, Bristol and Birmingham into the Total Produce fold and gives The Greenery access to all of Total Produce’s wholesale outlets in the UK. The Birmingham operation had been a joint venture of both companies for a number of years.
The combined business of the five outlets was £29 million in the last financial year, which adds further strength to the market leader, which accounts for around 20 per cent of total UK fresh produce wholesale market activity outside of London.
Total Produce chairman Denis Punter said the salad aspect was a driver behind the deal. “One of the key issues for us and an origin of these discussions was that The Greenery has a fantastic salad business,” he told FPJ. “Both parties were very much focused on how that market is going to evolve and what we needed to do to develop it using our different areas of expertise.”
Martin Brown, managing director of The Greenery in the UK, said: “This will give The Greenery greater geographic access to the wholesale sector for our Dutch salads and vegetables and give us the chance to increase our market share in the important independent sector.”
The purchase is entirely targeted at the wholesale market sector and the plan is to retain the names of the five outlets, added Punter: “The process is not yet completed, but the initial thought is not to rename the companies as Total Produce. But once we have sat down and talked to their guys about this, we will see what they feel about it too and come to a decision.”
Total Produce has wholesale operations in Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff, Gateshead, Glasgow, Leicester, Southampton, Wigan, Wolverhampton, Stoke, Sheffield, Nottingham, Norwich and Edinburgh.
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