UK leafy salad supplier Vitacress has agreed to acquire Van Heyningen Brothers’ (VHB) West Sussex nurseries in what represents a major expansion across the fresh herb sector.
Vitacress - a wholly owned subsidiary of Portuguese private company RAR Group - acquired Lighthorne Herbs in 2008 and its latest move would make it the UK’s largest player in the fresh herb market.
The completion of the transaction, for an undisclosed fee, is subject to Office of Fair Trading approval and signals the break up of Humber VHB.
The remaining part of the Humber VHB business will revert to the name Humber Growers, by which it was known before the link up with VHB nine years ago.
The two VHB nurseries in West Sussex supply over 14 million pots of fresh herbs a year and more than 23 million packs of fresh-cut and bunched herbs a year. Product is sourced from VHB’s own production and selected other UK and overseas growers. In 2009, the company had a turnover of £26m, employing around 320 people.
Vitacress production and technical director Steve Rothwell said: “This is all part of our strategy to become the biggest player in the fresh herbs sector in the UK. Humber VHB has sold the part of the business it wanted to sell, and we have bought the part we wanted to buy.
“With this acquisition, we will be able to offer our customers a whole range of herbs,” he added. “Our strength is in growing and farming and we hope with this acquisition we will be able to grow rather than procure more of what we sell.
“In this market, you can only grow through acquisition… We are not trying to gain a monopoly, but need economies of scale to innovate and that is what the fresh herb industry is crying out for.”
Humber chairman Roger Sayer said the move would allow it to be more focused on Yorkshire, as well as core cucumber and tomato lines. “Consolidation within the industry is inevitable,” he said. “Vitacress approached us and the move makes sense.”
