Greenyard is seeking to take a majority shareholding in fellow frozen vegetables group Gelagri Bretagne in France.
The Brussels-listed supplier of fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables said in a statement that it has signed a letter of intent with Loudéac, Brittany-based Gelagri Bretagne to acquire the undisclosed stake before the end of the year, subject to regulatory approval.
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Gelagri Bretagne, which is owned by the Eureden agri-food cooperative, also located in Brittany, produces a range of frozen vegetables, along with ready meals, soups and purées. Set up in 1978, the company supplies the retail and foodservice channels from three sites in Brittany: Loudéac (Côtes-d’Armor), Saint-Caradec (Finistère) and Landerneau (Finistère).
Francis Kint, the group CEO of Greenyard, said in the statement: “We have longstanding historical ties with Eureden and have been solid partners for decades.
“This envisaged partnership will allow both of us to strengthen our position, both from a strategic sourcing perspective, as from a production point of view in this fertile region of Brittany. Together with our customers, we would be able to further increase the consumption of healthy and nutritious frozen foods, fully in line with Greenyard’s mission.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Greenyard currently operates two factories in France for its frozen foods division in Moréac, in the Morbihan department of Brittany, and in the Nord department of Comines, a spokesperson confirmed with Just Food, adding that 500 Gelagri Bretagne employees are part of the deal.
The company declined to disclose its revenue generated in France or the annual turnover of Gelagri Bretagne.
As part of the Eureden co-op, Gelagri Bretagne is engaged in both the growing and processing of frozen vegetables such as peas, cauliflower and carrots. It owns the brands Paysan Breton and D’aucy.
“By consolidating the production and processing of vegetables in the Brittany region, the partnership will directly contribute to accelerated growth and increased efficiency,” according to the statement.
Alain Perrin, the managing director of Eureden, said: “In a frozen vegetable market of European dimension, this project offers real prospects for the consolidation and development of our vegetable business and reaffirms its strategic importance in Brittany.
“Through this partnership, in which we would be very closely involved, we would mutually strengthen our activities in the heart of the open-field vegetable production areas of our cooperative’s members.”
Greenyard is seeking to reach €5.4bn ($5.8bn) in annual sales by March 2026, along with an adjusted EBITDA print of €200-210m.
In the first half of the company’s current financial year, sales climbed 6.1% to €2.6bn, led by pricing of 2.4%, or what Greenyard termed as “inflation compensating measures”. Volumes rose 2.9%.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 4.6% to €94.4m. Net profit was €1.2m.
Kint said: “After successfully navigating our business during two challenging years in 2022 and 2023, which were marked by unseen inflation, we reached good operational results in the first half of this financial year 24/25.
“Our net sales increased, and we further improved our adjusted EBITDA. This was driven by sustained volume growth, particularly in the fresh segment, and by managing optimal price levels across both segments, fresh and long fresh.”
Sales in the company’s recent full financial year (2023/24) rose 10.9% to €5.1bn. Adjusted EBITDA increased 11.5% to €186.5m and net profit was up 63% at €15.2m.
That same fiscal year, Greenyard struck a couple of acquisitions. It bought Belgium’s Crème de la Crème, a private-label manufacturer of frozen desserts such as ice lollies, sorbet and gelato.
And it acquired dairy-free, Italian-style, ice-cream maker Gigi Gelato, headquartered in the Netherlands. That was before Kint was promoted to CEO at the tail end of 2023, ending the dual leadership of Hein Deprez and Marc Zwaanveld.
