Fruit group Fyffes has entered the US winter melon business by investing in a number of companies in the US and Central America.
The investments include farming operations in Honduras and Guatemala and the acquisition of 60% of Sol Group Marketing Company, which is based in Pompano Beach, Florida.
In separate deals, Fyffes has also invested in an 85,000 square foot warehouse and cold storage facility, from where most of the imported fruit is distributed, and has acquired the right to ship all the fruit imported by Sol Group Marketing from Honduras and Guatemala.
Sol Group Marketing imports close to eight million boxes of winter season melons annually into the US, for sale to big retailers and fruit processors. This makes it the second largest importer of winter melons in the US market.
