Friday, July 4, 2014

Lassonde makes another purchase

Lassonde Industries Inc. is buying Apple & Eve juice company of New York State for US$150-million.

Lassonde, based in Quebec and Canada’s largest fruit juice company, says the acquisition of Apple & Eve will  allow it to enter the branded juice business in the U.S.

Apple & Eve, based in Port Washington, N.Y., is a leading independent branded juice company in the U.S., with total annualized net sales of US$190-million.

In 2007, Lassonde purchases bought the assets for the production and commercialization of ready-to-drink fruit juices and fruit drinks belonging to McCain Foods (Canada).

It also bought Les Produits alimentaires Mondiv Inc., a plant in Boisbriand, Quebec that produces long-shelf-life specialty food products.

In 2009 it bought Apple Valley Juice Corporation, a division of Dominion Citrus Ltd., at Clarksburg, Ont.

In 2011 it bouth Clement Pappas and Company Inc., the largest producer of store-brand fruit juices and fruit drinks in the U.S.

The brands it markets now include Allen’s, Rougemont, Del Monte, Tropical Grove, Graves, Niagara and Oasis.

The company began in 1918 at Rougemont, Que., as a vegetable juice producer.


It was 1996 when it bought Mar-Brite, an Ontario company founded as a co-operative to improve the fortunes of apple producers.