Leading European healthy fresh food provider

Greenfood

Greenfood is a leading European healthy fresh food company.

The company was created under Fidelio’s ownership through the merger of Picadeli (a concept of salad bars) and STC Greenfood (an importer and distributor of fruits and vegetables).

From its origin as a Swedish-based company focused on fruits and vegetables, Greenfood has under the ownership of Fidelio embarked on a European expansion and repositioned itself as a provider of fresh and convenient food to health-conscious consumers.

The group now consists of Picadeli (self-service salad bars), Food Solutions (fresh cut and washed salads, modern and innovative prepared food such as vegan and vegetarian foods), and Fresh Produce (import and distribution of F&V).

In 2016, Greenfood was partially divested to Nordic Capital.

CEO: David von Laskowski
Head office: Helsingborg, Sweden
Employees: 1,200
Acquisition year: 2012 and 2015
Acquisitions: 3
Exit year: Partial exit in 2016
Industry: Healthy food
Website: greenfood.com

Investment Case

In August 2012 Fidelio Capital acquired a majority shareholding in Picadeli (then Salladsbaren i Sverige) from its founders, having followed the company since early 2011. The founders remained significant shareholders after the acquisition. Fidelio Capital was attracted by the low cyclicality in combination with supportive underlying trends such as focus on healthy eating, convenience and freedom of choice. At the time Picadeli had a proven and scalable business model that could be transferred to new customer segments and geographies. To further improve food safety and efficiency in store handling Fidelio ensured Picadeli invested significant resources in a new packaging solution and a digitalised salad bar. Meanwhile Picadeli continued to expand rapidly in Sweden and subsequently Finland which resulted in a rapid expansion from 200 locations in 2012 to 1,000 locations in 2014. In the summer of 2015 Fidelio Capital acquired STC Greenfood, a fruit & vegetable group, which was merged with Picadeli to form the Greenfood group. STC Greenfood was active in three business areas: (1) production of pre-cut and washed salad and related products (the main ingredient in Picadeli’s salad bar concept), (2) a salad bar concept similar to Picadeli (but substantially smaller) and (3) import and distribution of fruit and vegetables in the Nordic region (retail chain-independent).

Fidelio identified substantial cost synergies realisable by transferring Picadeli’s salad and fruit volumes from external suppliers to STC Greenfood as well as synergies in the operations of the salad bar concepts. There was also potential to vastly improve the customer offering by leveraging Picadeli’s installed base of salad bars, logistical set-up, and digital platform to distribute the combined group’s offering. The combined company created a clear Nordic market leader and a stable partner within the fragmented industry of healthy foods. In the spring of 2016, Fidelio divested parts of its shareholding in Greenfood to Nordic Capital which became the new majority investor. The Greenfood Group has since continued its growth and profitable expansion and the Picadeli concept has subsequently been launched in Denmark, France, Germany and Belgium. Fidelio remains committed to the investment through considerable minority ownership and board representation.

greenfood

Strategic initiatives

Salad bar development

Vastly improved food safety, user experience and operational efficiency through digitalisation of the salad bar and launch of disposable canteens.

Strategic M&A

Merger of Picadeli with STC Greenfood AB and acquisition of strategic supplier Mixum.

New brand and graphic profile

Transformation from the generic brand name Salladsbaren i Sverige to now well-known Picadeli.

New team

Recruitment of new management team and professionalization of the organization.

Roll-out

1,000 new Picadeli locations in Sweden and expansion to Finland as well as preparation for further expansion in Denmark, France and Germany.

Aligned incentives

Broad co-investment programme launched to key employees in Picadeli and subsequently in the combined company.

Related news

David von Laskowski, Greenfood’s CEO, is awarde…

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Nordic Capital invests in Greenfood

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Fidelio acquires Greenfood

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Fidelio Capital acquires Salladsbaren i Sverige A…

Fidelio Capital becomes majority shareholder in Salladsbaren i Sverige AB, a leading independent provider of healthy food solutions in Sweden. The Company has sales of approximately SEK 100 million and has approximately 20 employees.

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