Specialist fruit supplier Poupart Imports is moving into vegetables and salads.
Poupart wants to create a "one-stop shop" for customers to source the full range of fresh produce. Initial products are likely to be salad lines including peppers, beans and tomatoes.
Poupart Imports is a £24m division of the £200m Poupart Group of fresh produce companies. The division was set up nine years ago and supplies retail co-ops and regional supermarkets via third-party marketers, as well as the foodservice and wholesale markets.
All of the other five divisions - BerryWorld, OrchardWorld, Poupart Citrus, VitalBerry and Norton Folgate - focus exclusively on fruit, and there are no plans for them to expand into veg and salads, said Poupart Imports chief executive Jonathan Olins.
The new enterprise kicks off operations this week, with Tony Cholwill appointed to lead the project. He will be based at Poupart Imports' Broxbourne, Hertfordshire office and supported by seven sales staff.
Cholwill and Olins will be immediately looking for new suppliers, starting at this week's Fruit Logistica trade show in Berlin.
Cholwill has worked for more than 20 years in the salad and vegetable sector, having been product group manager for salads at Somerfield and a trader for two Canary Island Importers.
Olins said the move was a natural progression for the company as many grower suppliers also produced other crops.
"A number of our suppliers are involved in veg and salad production. For instance we have a citrus grower in Israel who could also supply us with celery and potatoes," said Olins.
The company is taking a "wait and see" approach to predictions of future growth, prefering to gauge market interest before investing heavily in the sector, he added.
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