Islands West, a family-owned wholesaler of produce, processed fruits, dried spices, and fresh-cut vegetables based in Canada, has been acquired by US private-equity firm HKW for an undisclosed sum.

Indianapolis-based HKW did the deal through its portfolio company Fresh Direct Produce, which is also a Canada-based fruit and vegetables supplier.

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Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Islands West is a distributor of more than 1,000 domestic and imported organic fruit and vegetable items.

Davis Yung, president, CEO, and co-founder of Fresh Direct Produce, said: “This acquisition meets several key objectives for Fresh Direct Produce, offering our customers a range of complementary new products, a wider and more efficient distribution network, and a state-of-the-art processing facility, adding capacity and improving operations.

“With a strong leadership team already in place, Islands West immediately provides the fresh-cut capabilities our customers want, while at the same time expanding our overall product offering and geographic reach.”

Fresh Direct Produce is one of western Canada’s largest fresh produce importers, wholesalers, and marketers with three distribution centres, two in Vancouver and one in Calgary.

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