F&S Produce buys shuttered New Jersey plant

F&S Produce, which supplies fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, has purchased the former General Mills Progresso Soup plant in Vineland, New Jersey. F&S Produce’s core businesses include processing and assembling fresh produce into retail products including fresh-cut fruit and vegetable bowls and trays, salsas, ready-to-prepare meal sides and kits, individual and behind the glass deli salads and wraps. F&S also operates a pepper and pickle brining operation, produces individually quick-frozen fruits and vegetables and creates purees that are used in soups, beverages, flavors and a variety of other applications.

The Vineland plant will join F&S Produce’s two production facilities in Rosenhayn, New Jersey. The acquisition of the nearby Vineland plant will increase both the company’s capacity and capabilities.

“Our new state-of-the-art production facility will allow continued growth within the fresh-cut produce space, while enabling our company to expand its meal solution offerings that our customers increasingly seek,” said President and CEO Sam Pipitone Jr.

Colin Turner, the company’s chief operating officer, said the new plant’s cooking capabilities enable F&S to also fill the starch or grain and protein portions of the plate.