Harlech Foodservice is acquiring wholesaler Oren Foods, with the Welsh business taking on the 25 staff of the company that will allow it to add fresh fruit and vegetables into its product offering.
Oren will be fully integrated into Harlech’s main site by September with the company’s fleet of 12 delivery vans also taken over by the owner. Furthermore, the product supplied by Oren to Gwynedd and Conwy schools have been merged into Harlech’s school deliveries.
Oren supplies schools in the counties of Gwynedd and Anglesey, as well care homes and restaurants, hotels, cafes, nursing homes and across North Wales.
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Harlech managing Director David Cattrall, said: “It’s always been our ambition to be a total range supplier and buying up a well-established and respected local business fills a gap in our range of products. All the staff at Oren has been offered their job on the same terms and that’s something we were committed to from the start of our discussions.”
Oren managing director Gethin Dwyfor added: “The company was originally called DJ Fruits but we changed it to Oren and it’s always been my plan to build the business and to have a clear succession plan. My dream was for a partnership with a locally based company and that has happened, and it was always going to be a condition that our staff could keep their jobs and Harlech have always given that assurance.
“I will stay on and continue to be involved and that’s very exciting for me as well. I’ve run the business for 12 years and this will now be a new challenge for me with a bigger business.”
The addition of the Oren team will take Harlech’s staff numbers to 300 and their fleet of 65 vehicles deliver up to 5,000 product lines across the whole of Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and the Northwest.
