Fresh produce group Univeg has reportedly posted a loss of €20.4m for 2009, compared with the €32.4m profit it made during the previous financial year.
The news, published in Belgian newspaper the De Standaard, will be of particular interest to other companies in the European fresh produce business, which has watched Europe's largest fresh produce supplier make a number of high-profile acquisitions over the past few years.
Univeg ceo Rudi de Becker attributed the dramatic shift in fortunes to restructuring costs associated with those recent acquisitions - notably the merger with another fresh produce giant, Bocchi, and the purchase of German importer Atlanta from US group Chiquita - as well as "market imbalances".
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