nture Foods, Phoenix, Arizona, which produces (among other things) frozen fruit smoothies under license from Jamba Juice, has signed a non-binding letter of intent for the purchase of the berry processing business of Willamette Valley Fruit Company (WVFC), Salem, Oregon.WVFC began in 1999 as a small frozen processing operation and has since become one of the Pacific Northwest's leading processors of berry products, mostly flash-frozen. Each summer it processes, on average, 13 million pounds of fruit, including strawberries, raspberries, boysenberries, blueberries, a variety of blackberries, cranberries and the local favorite, marionberries.
The business contemplated for acquisition has annualized revenues of approximately $15 million. Consummation of the transaction is currently targeted for Inventure's second fiscal quarter. If consummated, Inventure expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to earnings. Dave Dunn, its general manager, may have been alluding to the fruit smoothie business as well as berry sales in a statement.
"We have had a long-standing vendor relationship with Inventure Foods and recently expanded our berry processing business," Dunn said. "The present owners believe this is a great opportunity as berry growers and also for the other berry growers in Oregon. Inventure Foods is a significant purchaser of berries, and the contemplated acquisition should help stabilize the local berry industry and provide growth opportunities for local farming operations."
"We have partnered with Willamette Valley Fruit Company through the years to meet our growing demand for fruit and look forward to combining their berry processing capabilities with ours," said Terry McDaniel ceo of Inventure. "This acquisition will help us meet the growing consumer demand for berries nationwide, while also affording us the opportunity to work more closely with the local farmers of the area. In addition to closer ties with the Oregon berry community, we also anticipate this transaction to bring additional operational synergies."
