BayWa now also a supplier of exotic fruit
BayWa AG aims to expand its portfolio in the growth market for exotic speciality fruits, particularly in the ‘ready-to-eat‘ segment, with its plan to buy a majority share of Dutch exotic fruit and vegetable supplier TFC Holland B.V.
Subject to approval by antitrust authorities, the Munich-based trading and services company will pay €28.7 million for a 68.4% stake in De Lier-based TFC, BayWa said in a February 2 press release.
Active in the sectors of agriculture, construction and energy supply, BayWa said the move would be an important step in its international growth strategy in agriculture and strengthen its position as a leading international supplier of exotic and pome fruit.
“TFC has long-standing international trade relations in all procurement markets for exotic fruits – mainly for avocado, mango, ginger and citrus fruits, as well as with the European food retail industry,” BayWa said.
“The European market for exotic fruits has been on the rise for several years. TFC’s product range of appealing specialities is an excellent complement to our existing pome fruit business,” said BayWa AG CEO Klaus Josef Lutz.
“For the European food retail industry we are gaining significance for future cooperation as a result of this majority stake.”
Thanks to its apple business, BayWa AG is already one of the largest suppliers of pome fruit in international trade. In the global fruit business, the BayWa Group traded around 200,000 tons of dessert pome fruit in 2014. The fruit business is one of the strongest internationally focused business areas within the BayWa Group.
“In Germany, BayWa is a leading supplier to the German food retail industry and the largest single marketer for German dessert pome fruit and the largest supplier for pome fruit from biological contract farming.”