Dive Brief:
- Mann Packing, the vegetable division of Fresh Del Monte, invested $2.5M to acquire two optical sorters dedicated to snap peas, giving the company enough processing infrastructure “to dominate the marketplace,” said Craig Johnson, senior director of field operations.
- The optical sorters will be installed at the company’s plant in Gonzales, Calif., an automated facility that opened in 2021, a spokesperson said in an email to Supply Chain Dive. The equipment can quickly perform quality assurance checks, and allows Mann to increase efficiency and production.
- Mann will also explore sourcing options in Guatemala and Peru to further add capacity, according to a release earlier this month. The moves come just months after Fresh Del Monte completed the integration of the vegetable business into its operations.
Dive Insight:
Integration with Fresh Del Monte gives Mann Packing more access not only to capital, but also to the produce giant’s suite of logistics services.
Those logistics capabilities have already allowed Mann to broaden its sourcing horizons from Mexico and its headquarters in Salinas, Calif.
“The efficiency and frequency of Fresh Del Monte shipping fleet effectively brings us ‘closer’ to Central and South America than other California produce companies,” said Johnson and Jesus Rodriguez Calvo, senior vice president of sales and marketing for North America at Fresh Del Monte, in a joint statement to Supply Chain Dive.
Fresh Del Monte acquired Mann Packing for $361 million in 2018 to add more fresh vegetable to its portfolio. Since the integration was finalized in August, the companies have tested shipments of broccoli to the East Coast and snap and snow peas to California, Johnson and Rodriguez Calvo said.
The combination of the two businesses will ultimately help expand Mann’s presence on the East Coast, and Fresh Del Monte’s on the West Coast, the two said.
“We have big plans for Mann Packing, and this is just the beginning,” said Fresh Del Monte Chairman and CEO Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh in the press release. “By bringing Mann Packing completely into the Fresh Del Monte umbrella, we are not only able to expand our reach to more consumers, but we’re also able to further leverage the robust infrastructure we’ve built.”
