DELANO, Calif. – Paramount Citrus and Grimmway Farms announced they have entered into an agreement for Paramount Citrus to acquire the citrus assets of the Central Valley-based Grimmway Farms.
As a part of the acquisition, Grimmway Farms’ citrus packing equipment and outside grower program will transition to Paramount Citrus. This will add nearly 7,000 acres of navel and Valencia oranges and lemons grown in each of the major citrus producing regions in California, including the San Joaquin Valley, Ventura County, and the California Desert.
“Grimmway Farms has developed a strong citrus grower program of farmers who, like our two companies, are committed to the highest quality growing practices,” said David Krause, president of Paramount Citrus. “This additional volume and share of market in crops we already represent will allow us to service our current and new customers in an even better way.”
“This acquisition provides for us a great opportunity to transition out of the citrus business while ensuring a solid future for the farmers in our outside grower program,” said Jeff Huckaby, executive vice president of Grimmway Farms, “and allows us to focus even more of our efforts into our core business, the consistently growing carrot and organic vegetable market.”
Paramount Citrus is already the largest vertically integrated grower, packer and shipper of fresh citrus – including mandarins, navel oranges, Valencia oranges, lemons, limes and Texas red grapefruit. With this Grimmway Farms acquisition, Paramount Citrus’s lemon program will now represent roughly 20 percent of total California lemon sales in the U.S., strengthening its position as a premiere independent lemon shipper.
Following the acquisition, members from the Grimmway Farms Grower Representative team will join the Paramount Citrus family in order to ensure a smooth transition for growers as they move from Grimmway Farms over to Paramount Citrus.
The acquisition is scheduled to close at the end of the month.
About Paramount Citrus
Paramount Citrus is America’s largest integrated grower, shipper and packer of fresh citrus—mandarins, navel oranges, Valencia oranges, lemons, limes, Texas red grapefruit and other citrus varieties. More than a half million tons of fresh citrus shipped from around the world are processed at our facilities in California’s San Joaquin Valley, Texas’s Rio Grande Valley and Mexico. Paramount Citrus is the country’s largest grower of sweet, seedless, easy peel California mandarins, which are processed in the world’s largest citrus packinghouse at our company’s headquarters in Delano, California. Paramount Citrus is part of the Roll Global LLC family of companies that also includes the world’s largest vertically integrated growers and processors of pistachios, almonds and pomegranates.
About Grimmway Farms
Founded in 1968, Grimmway Farms is the largest grower, producer and shipper of carrots in the world. Grimmway Farms is a produce industry leader in organic and sustainable farming practices and has been family owned and operated for over 40 years. For more information, visit the Grimmway Farms website at www.Grimmway.com.
Source: Paramount Citrus
