The NPM portfolio company HAK is aiming to strengthen its position in the German market and to achieve significant sales growth. To that end, Neerlands Glorie Groente en Fruit B.V., the holding company of which HAK is part, has acquired a majority interest of 51% in the German distributor foodeko, based in Viersen. The parties are not disclosing financial details of the transaction. The German competition authority Bundeskartellamt has not objected to the transaction.

The two companies know each other well. HAK has already been selling its products in the German market via foodeko, which also handles the exclusive retail distribution of brands such as De Ruijter, Morato and Heinz Sandwich spread, since 2013. At present, HAK is still mainly successful in Germany with its HAK applesauces and red cabbage with apple, particularly in the north-west of Germany. The company foodeko achieved turnover of €19 million in 2016.

All employees as well as the non-HAK-related activities of foodeko will be transferred to the new joint venture, which will operate under the name HAK-foodeko GmbH. The remaining shares will continue to be held by general manager Jens Wohlrab, who is also one of the founders of the company. Both shareholders have ambitious plans and want to expand the activities and double turnover in the next five years.

At the start of 2017, HAK already acquired the Dutch company Peter van Halder, based in Den Bosch, which specialises in vegetables. This company processes fresh vegetables (in ready-to-cook and other forms) and supplies these in large pack sizes (500 gr – 5 kg) to professional kitchens in care institutions and restaurant chains, among others. The acquisition will enable HAK to play an even more significant role in the strong trend towards plant-based foods and help it to implement, with new cooled product concepts based on vegetables and beans, its mission to make eating vegetables and legumes easier and more tasty for consumers.