Portuguese food retailer Sonae and the UK's Hilton Food Group, a global meat-packing business, have created a joint venture named SOHI Meat Solutions.
Hilton will work with Sonae to revamp the production facilities of its packing and sourcing subsidiary, Sonae Centro Processamento Carnes, supplying Sonae stores in Portugal. It will be completed by the end of the second quarter.
The facility sources over 1,000 tonnes of packaged meat products weekly, including mince, roasting joints, and other beef and pork-based products.
The renovated plant will supply product to all of Sonae's grocery stores, and it is expected to increase overall volumes provided to the Portuguese market.
The start-up investment will be €22 million, supplied by both partners.
On the new collaboration, Hilton CEO Robert Watson commented, "Our progress in Portugal demonstrates further the strength of Hilton's flexible and versatile business model, enabling us to meet the local requirements of our customers in their territories. This now extends our presence to 15 countries, and we will continue to look for further opportunities for geographic expansion."
Sonae operates a series of supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores, mainly under the Continente banner.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
