Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. has reached an agreement to sell its Mann Packing business to value-added vegetables and leafy greens company Church Brothers Farms. Church Brothers will assume operations at Mann Packing’s Gonzales, Calif., processing facility, giving the company the ability to serve both foodservice and retail markets, integrating its vegetable expertise and value-added capabilities to strengthen its retail presence.
For Fresh Del Monte, the transaction allows the company to “concentrate fully on our core products and higher-margin, value-added segments — areas where we continue to deliver the quality, reliability and innovation our customers expect,” said chairman and CEO Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh in the release. He added that Church Brothers Farms was the right home for the Mann Packing business, and the company expects the Mann legacy to continue under watch of a company deeply rooted in the vegetable industry.
Fresh Del Monte acquired Mann Packing in February 2018, but sold off the division’s Fresh Leaf Farms brand and operations almost a year ago, after a comprehensive review of the vegetable division resulted in the company adopting a three-pronged strategy focused on increasing operational efficiency, elevating product offerings and divesting non-core assets (including Fresh Leaf Farms).
Moving forward, Fresh Del Monte said it will turn a sharper focus toward high-growth fruit and fresh-cut categories to enhance operational efficiency, optimize margin profile and take advantage of opportunities to convert residual materials and byproducts into new value streams, reducing waste and improving resource efficiency.
