Fyffes tropicals

Fyffes, the Ireland-based tropical fruit importer, has been forced to take a €7m loss on its investment in the Dutch shipping firm Europe West Indies Lines (EWL) after the business filed for bankruptcy.

According to a report in the Irish Business News, the Irish group has written off money owed to it by EWL, and has been forced to look at other short-term options to ship produce across the Atlantic.

The two companies teamed up in 2007 to bring Fyffes fruit to Europe, but the new business had experienced 'trading difficulties' and had sought court protection, according to Fyffes.

Fyffes announced last week that group revenue increased 5.6 per cent during the first half of 2008, up to €302m compared with 2007’s €286.2m.