Kerryfresh

Fresh to Store, the owner of Kerryfresh, has acquired the chilled van sales distribution business Stocked from the Indigo Food Group. No details on the financials of the deal are being disclosed.

The Kerryfresh and Stocked businesses will continue to operate separately and there are no immediate plans to merge the two operations. Fresh to Store said it did not foresee any changes to the management teams of both companies, however former Stocked owners Mark Woodington and Peter Hobbs have left the business.

“This acquisition will reinforce our position as the nation’s number one chilled food delivery service. It will enable us to expand our range of chilled products in the convenience channel through new supply relationships, as well as providing additional distribution capacity to support our growing customer base,” said Fresh to Store managing director Darren Haynes.

“This is an extremely exciting development for our business and will add to the fantastic service that we already provide to more than 11,000 retailers throughout Great Britain.”

The announcement comes almost a year after Haynes led a management buyout of the Kerryfresh business from previous owner Kerry Foods, in February 2015.

“It has been an extremely busy first year, and we have made a number of improvements to the Kerryfresh business, which we know are already helping retailers to make even more out of the fast-growing chilled convenience market,” said Haynes.

“With the addition of Stocked to our business, we look forward to offering a first-class chilled delivery service to an even greater number of independent retailers nationwide.”