UK company Produce World, a major supplier of domestic and imported fresh fruit and vegetables to retail customers including Waitrose and the Cooperative Group, has sold its interests in British & Brazilian Ltd, a UK-based importer of grapes, stonefruit and melons, to AG Thames Holdings.
AG Thames, an import company based in Kent, south-east England, will retain British & Brazilian as a separate trading entity within its group structure.
'Customers will retain focus from British & Brazilian but will also benefit from the company's scale in fruit procurement,' a spokesperson for Produce World said in a comment.
Founded in 1930, British & Brazilian merged its operations with the Produce World group in 2006.
The company was originally set up to trade Brazilian oranges in London's Covent Garden Market, and throughout the 60s and 70s pioneered pre-packed produce with major UK supermarkets.
More recently, it has become a specialist procurer, distributor and category manager of grapes, stonefruit and melons.
'The synergies with AG Thames, who are a scale player in fruit, will greatly enhance the British & Brazilian business and enable them to compete more effectively,' the spokesperson said.
Jocelyn Clarke, a buyer at Waitrose, commented: 'Waitrose looks forward to working productively with the combined strengths of British & Brazilian and AG Thames to deliver our customers the very best quality fruit.'
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