Belgium-based frozen vegetables processor Pinguin nv has increased its stake in French company Legum’Land Surgelés (LLS) to 60%, with a buyout of the 30% owned by the Albert Fisher Group (Fisher Foods).
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
This makes Pinguin the major shareholder in the group, while two agricultural co-operatives, Lurberri and Primco, each maintain a 20% share. The group’s commercial relation with Fisher Foods will continue however.
Pinguin says that becoming a majority holder in LLS is important in view of the company’s strategy and philosophy.
LLS, based in the south-east of France, has had a difficult time in 2000 and 2001 mainly due to the low market-prices of sweetcorn, but also due to technical problems during start-up of its second production line. The sweetcorn market in Europe has now improved however, and prices have increased. The company also stressed that all technical problems have been solved.
As a result, provided a normal crop, the production-outcome looks set to increase. The budget for 2002 forecasts a production volume of 38000 tons (84000k lbs) in total, of which 13000 tons (29000k lbs) will be sweetcorn.

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataIn view of all these elements, LLS expects a positive year-result. In 2001 LLS had a turnover of €13m (US$12m) with a cash-flow of €1m.