Vegetable processing company Ardo acquires Canadian company

Ardo, the vegetable processing company from Ardooie (Belgium), has just acquired Canadian VLM Foods and its subsidiary Compañia Frutera La Paz. These are its first non-European acquisitions and they will help grow its turnover beyond the one billion euro mark.

Faster growth in the United States

VLM Foods, a Montreal-based company founded in 2001, distributes frozen vegetables, fruit, herbs, grains and proteins across North America. It buys its resources in South America, China, Poland and Belgium and generates a 129 million euro turnover.

“VLM Foods gives a network of customers, logistics and sellers”, Ardo chairman Philippe Haspeslagh told De Tijd. “Its expertise of the highly complex North American legislation regarding food and bacteriology is even more important. VLM Foods is only one of seven North American companies that can perform food safety checks, alongside the enormous bureaucratic process that entails.”

The VLM Foods’ acquisition also gives Ardo a majority stake in Compañia Frutera La Paz, Costa Rica’s largest pineapple manufacturer with a 25 million euro turnover. Similarly to its European strategy, Ardo wants to obtain a market share that surpasses 20 %. Over the past five years, Ardo has achieved an average annual growth of 2.3 %.