Tropical fruit giant buys Highline mushroom plants

Fyffes fresh produce company has acquired all five Canadian locations of Highline Produce Limited – including Wellington’s plant – in a $145 million acquisition announced Friday.

Highline is the nation’s largest mushroom business, with five plants in Ontario and Quebec, marketing more than 58 million pounds of mushrooms annually. There are about 1,150 employees in the plants at Leamington, Kingsville, Montreal and Wellington.

Fyffes is the largest importer of winter melons into the United States, known mainly for banana and pineapples under the Fyffes, Turbana, Sol and Fresh Quest labels.

Highline bought the Wellington plant in 1990 from the Campbell Soup company.

In a press release, Fyffes Chairman David McCann called Highline “a very fine business with a strong position in an important product category. We look forward to working with Glenn Martin and his management team to continue to develop the business.”

“We couldn’t be more excited about this transaction and joining Fyffes, given its long history and successful track record of growth,” said Highline CEO Glenn Martin. “We already operate some of the most state-of-the-art mushroom facilities in North America, and this arrangement will give us access to a global market leader in fresh produce.”

Highline’s highly developed cropping techniques have enabled them to grow all white, mini bella and portabella mushrooms without the use of pesticides or fungicides regularly required in the cultivation of mushrooms.