Metro acquires Caterite Food & Wineservice

Düsseldorf-based Metro AG has acquired UK foodservice wholesaler Caterite Food & Wineservice for an undisclosed sum.

Caterite, which is based near Cockermouth, has around 200 employees and supplies over 2,000 customers, offering a mix of locally and internationally sourced food complemented with value-added products from its own processing and production facilities. Caterite generated revenues of £44 million in 2023.

The wholesaler’s range features fresh and frozen food, groceries, value-added products (Caterite brand) as well as beverages (Grapevine brand) and its emphasis is on fresh produce and meat. Key customer segments include hotels, restaurants, bars and cafés, which are supplied from three sites with a fleet of 70 multi-temperature trucks. Some 60% of sales are processed via the company’s web-shop.

With Caterite’s regional focus on the Lake District and adjacent regions, the acquisition will help Metro expand its activities to the northern parts of the UK.

Within Metro, Caterite will complement activities of Food Service Distribution (FSD) specialist Classic Fine Foods UK, which supplies customers primarily in the greater London area, South West and central parts of the UK. Caterite will initially continue to operate under its established brands and in its existing form, seeking synergetic collaboration with Classic Fine Foods in areas such as assortment, sourcing, knowledge transfer and logistic network.

Lorcan Byrne, managing director of Caterite, commented: “Having traded as an independently-owned family business for over 50 years, the time has come for us to join something new. Over the years we have had multiple expressions of interest in our unique business and have always professionally declined any advances. However, on this occasion we believe we have found our perfect partner.

“Metro are an elite global foodservice powerhouse. Their philosophy, product range and objectives are almost identical to our own: fresh products, ingredients and innovative tech solutions – we have so many synergies. With £25 billion global annual sales, distinct sourcing capabilities and a history of successfully acquiring and integrating a number of foodservice specialists in recent years, we feel we have an exciting future ahead.

“The industry landscape is changing, and demand for investment to continue driving our business forward has never been greater. We have ambitious plans to expand our services across the UK through collaboration with Classic Fine Foods UK and to enhance our distribution centre in the Lake District, and we now have greater financial backing and expertise to enable us to do that.”

Guillaume Deruyter, member of the management board of Metro AG and responsible for its FSD businesses, added: “We are delighted to welcome the successful foodservice specialist Caterite as another member of our international Food Service Distribution (FSD) family. Metro sees the acquisition as an opportunity to grow in the attractive UK HoReCa market and to create synergies with Classic Fine Foods UK. This brings us closer to our strategic goal of successively expanding the share of delivery in total sales.”

Metro is an international food wholesaler that operates in more than 30 countries and employs over 89,000 people worldwide. In the financial year 2022/23, Metro generated sales of €30.6 billion.