Hope for HS Fresh Food Group but hundreds of jobs in limbo
A buyer has been found for Tasmania’s HS Fresh Food Group after it fell into administration, but hundreds of employees across the country face a nervous wait to learn their fate.
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A buyer has been found for Tasmania’s HS Fresh Food Group after it fell into administration last month, but hundreds of employees across the country face a nervous wait to learn their fate under new company ownership.
Sydney’s PMFresh has emerged as the successful bidder for HS Fresh Food, a major supplier of salads and fresh produce to Coles and Woolworths which employs more than 400 workers.
Administrators Ben Campbell, Joanne Dunn and Vaughan Strawbridge of FTI Consulting confirmed on Thursday that they had signed an agreement to sell the business to PMFresh on Monday following a sale campaign that generated several offers.
However, future staffing requirements have not been determined, leaving employees in limbo ahead of the deal’s expected completion on July 31.
“The sale process resulted in a number of expressions of interest and non-binding indicative offers being received, but the PMFresh offer was the best offer received,” the administrators said in a statement on Thursday.
“Employees were advised of the sale in meetings that were held on Tuesday, 9 July 2024, however the final number of employees being offered future employment under the sale has yet to be communicated, as this will not be known until transition plans are finalised which are expected to be done over the next three weeks.”
Administrators will continue to operate the HS Fresh Food business until the sale is completed this month.
PMFresh, backed by the Watt and Boratto families, has more than 1000 employees nationally, supplying salads, vegetables, sauces and soups to supermarkets, fast-food restaurants including Hungry Jack’s and KFC, and airlines including Qantas and Virgin Australia.
As part of its acquisition of HS Fresh Food it will take over a national network of farms and food processing and manufacturing sites, and operations in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and NSW.
HS Fresh Food Group brands include Houston’s Farm, Sunfresh, Gourmet Selections and HS Fresh Farms, with its products including bagged salad leaf varieties such as baby spinach and rocket, and pre-packaged salads.
The group was formed through a merger of Sunfresh and Houston’s Farm.
Sunfresh was among the assets owned by collapsed ASX-listed fund Blue Sky Alternative Investments, which owned the Adelaide-based company through its Blue Sky Private Equity Sunfresh Fund set up in 2017.
Queensland-based Fortitude Investment Partners is a major shareholder in the HS Fresh Food group, according to company documents lodged with the corporate regulator ASIC, alongside other shareholders including the families which have sold their businesses into the group, such as Tasmania’s Houston family.
Fortitude partner Nick Dignam – also formerly head of growth capital at Blue Sky – is a director, along with Raymond Butcher and Mike Wallas.
Originally published as Hope for HS Fresh Food Group but hundreds of jobs in limbo
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