Dole Europe has made a significant move in the fresh convenience sector with the acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in Stockholm-based fresh-cut produce specialist Green Vision through its Swedish division Saba Fresh Cuts.
The company said the move was aimed at providing customers with 'a wider choice of products, along with high standards of freshness and quality'.
'Within Dole Europe, Saba Fresh Cuts has experienced a real development in recent years. Now through its participation in Green Vision, the division wants to extend its expertise and offer an access to a larger range of fresh-cut produce to its retail and food service customers,' said Stefan Grahn, managing director at Saba Fresh Cuts.
Green Vision produces and supplies fresh-cut fruits and vegetables to retail and foodservice customers in both Sweden and Finland.
The company's production facility has been located in Huddinge, near Stockholm, since 2007 and the group has a turnover of approximately SKr30m (€3m) per year and around 20 employees.
'Few companies can compete with the quality of the fresh-cut fruit offer Green Vision has developed,' said the company's co-founder and joint owner Erik Bolmgren. 'Our partnership with Saba Fresh Cuts will enable synergies and will also help us develop our market outside Sweden.'
Dole Europe president Jean-Christophe Juilliard welcomed the development. 'This collaboration will develop a new leadership in fresh-cut fruit focused on high quality services and production, all over Europe,' he said.
Saba Fresh Cuts, which is a fully owned subsidiary of Dole Europe, produces and markets fresh-cut salads and vegetables to the foodservice and retail sectors in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the Baltic States.
Along with Saba Frukt & Grönt and Banan-Kompaniet, Saba Fresh Cuts is part of Dolee-owned group Saba, which has a turnover of about SKr3.5bn (€358m) per annum and approximately 550 employees.
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