Apetit plans to acquire Sweden's Foodhills as part of the Finnish food group's strategy to expand in the supply of frozen peas.

While Apetit said the purchase of Foodhills' entire share capital is valued at Skr100 ($10.56) it is repaying Skr20-30m SEK in loans provided by the company's previous owner, equating to a final transaction price of Skr60m.

The deal is expected to close by 30 November and is pending approval from the Swedish ISP – the authority for direct investments in Sweden, Apetit said in a statement today (9 October).

Apetit confirmed to Just Food that Foodhills operates one production plant located in Bjuv, Sweden, and supplies customers in foodservice primarily for the Swedish market.

Since 2018, Foodhills has made investments of over Skr200m in the Bjuv production plant, according to the statement. The frozen pea producer posted net sales of Skr167.8m in 2024 but made an operating loss of Skr54.7m.

The company is supplied by approximately 300 contract farmers in the Skåne and Halland regions.

The acquisition promotes two of Apetit’s strategic focus areas - strengthening its presence in Sweden and increasing the volume of frozen peas.

Esa Mäki, CEO of Apetit, said: “The acquisition strengthens Apetit’s role as a significant Nordic producer of frozen peas and vegetable-based food.

“The cultivation area and production capacity of Apetit’s frozen peas will grow significantly with the acquisition.

“According to our estimates, Apetit will produce over 10% of the frozen peas in Europe. Cultivation and production of frozen peas are in the core of Apetit’s expertise.”

The CEO added that the Nordic pea has a “unique flavour”, making it a “highly desired product globally”.

Mäki also said: “By cultivating strategically important frozen pea both in Finland and Sweden, we diversify the geographical area of pea cultivation and mitigate the seasonal harvest risk.”