Paramount Citrus has said Healds Valley Farms’ presence in Texas was a key factor in its decision to buy its US fresh produce peer.
The deal, signed for an undisclosed sum, was announced earlier this week and, speaking to just-food, Paramount Citrus said Healds Valley’s base in Texas was “attractive”.
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“Part of what made Healds Valley attractive to us, beyond its people and operations, was its important infrastructure in Texas,” a Paramount Citrus spokesperson said. “The facilities we acquired as a part of this deal allow us to operate out of all three parts of a strategically important triangle: California, Texas and Mexico. This area in Texas is where we cross all of our Mexico citrus production, so it makes for a natural year round shipping point.”
The acquisition of Healds Valley will also add red grapefruit to privately-owned Paramount Citrus’s portfolio. The company was a “significant addition” to its company, Paramount Citrus said.
“We pride ourselves on offering unmatched variety and quality to our customers. Until the acquisition of Healds Valley Farms, we were not able to offer our customers red grapefruit,” the spokesperson said.
“The acquisition of Healds Valley Farms is definitely a significant addition to Paramount Citrus in that it rounds out our product offerings and allows us to offer a full complement of citrus fruit from California, Texas and Mexico to our customers. This acquisition follows other key purchases including our Mexico lime and lemon farms in 2008 and 2011 and Dole Food Co.’s fresh citrus division in 2000.”
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By GlobalDataThe deal will mean Paramount Citrus will ship more than 15m cartons of fresh citrus a year to North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim.
It, however, declined to provide more detail on the breakdown of its international sales or how the Healds Valley deal could affect its international business.
“Paramount is a privately held company and does not release information that is proprietary or financial in nature,” the spokesperson said.
