Pea specialist Christian Salvesen Foods has sold its own label vegetable freezing business to Belgian-owned Pinguin Foods UK for £17.2m. The stock, machinery and contracts relating to Salvesen's three freezing plants in Lincolnshire will pass over to Pinguin, as will its Ross brand for the catering and wholesale sectors. Its contract to supply Birds Eye with frozen peas will not be affected. The deal strengthens Pinguin's existing UK manufacturing capability at Kings Lynn, which has benefited from £3m investment in recent years. It comes as Salvesen warned that the disastrous UK pea harvest would affect earnings in its logistics division. Stewart Oades, Christian Salvesen chief executive, said the sale would give the own label pea business a better chance of success. "This disposal marks another important step in our strategy of refocusing around our core activities of logistics and transport," he said.

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