Fyffes purchases Canadian mushroom business Highline

Irish fruit and fresh produce company Fyffes has acquired the Canada-based mushroom grower Highline.

The mushroom grower owns five facilities in Ontario and Quebec, growing and marketing nearly 58 million pounds of mushrooms every year.

Fyffes chairman David McCann said: "Highline is a very fine business with a strong position in an important product category.

"We look forward to working with Glenn Martin and his management team to continue to develop the business.

"This transaction fits perfectly with Fyffes strategic objective of adding an additional product to its existing three through the acquisition of an established, successful, integrated operator in a category with significant scale."

The five Canadian facilities managed by Highline will continue their operations under the company’s existing management team, which is led by its chief executive officer Glenn Martin.

The Canadian company will also retain its 1150 employees working at the five locations.

Martin said: "We couldn’t be more excited about this transaction and joining Fyffes, given its long history and successful track record of growth.

"We already operate some of the most state-of-the-art mushroom facilities in North America, and this arrangement will give us access to a global market leader in fresh produce.

"Our values are strongly aligned, and we look forward to working with Fyffe’s management as we continue to grow our business together into the future."

Established in 1961, Highline deploys modern and advanced cropping techniques to grow all white, mini bella and portabella mushrooms without the use of any pesticides or fungicides that are essential for the cultivation of mushrooms.

Having been in the fresh produce business for more than 125 years, the fresh produce of Fyffes in the US and Canada is sold under the Fyffes, Turbana, Sol and Fresh Quest labels.

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Image: A box of mushrooms. Photo: courtesy of PRNewswire.