Church Brothers Farms acquires Growers Express’ vegetable business

US-based Church Brothers Farms has acquired Growers Express’ commodity vegetable business for an undisclosed sum.

As part of the deal, Church Brothers Farms acquired assets that include the growing, harvesting and selling of field-packed vegetable commodities currently branded under Growers Express’ Green Giant Fresh licence.

Established in 1987, Growers Express is a farmer-owned innovator of vegetable products, including first-to-market innovations such as Cauliflower Crumbles and vegetable noodles in the US.

Growers Express CEO Jamie Strachan said: “The transition of our commodity vegetable business allows us to better leverage our expertise as innovators and marketers. It also gives us bandwidth to deliver more new products, consumer-focused innovation and value-added products to advance the business of our customers.

“We are a business rooted in farming, and we’ve been serving the commodity category for 30 years, so it was vital we find a partner that allows for seamless continuity for our farming operations, and Church Brothers Farms is an ideal partner.”

The deal is expected to expand Church Brothers Farms’ overall annual production by 15% to 20%.

The Growers Express commodity sales team will be transitioned to Church Brothers Farms.

Church Brothers Farms CEO Brian Church said: “We built a superior land base over the last decade making this a great fit.

“Church Brothers Farms is positioned to align this new business into an existing vertically integrated programme, which helps make the shift in business a seamless change for Growers Express customers in terms of the consistency of the field packed vegetable product line.”