Del Monte bites into FieldFresh

EL Rothschild Ltd, an equal stakes partner of Bharti Enterprises in FieldFresh Ltd, has sold 40 per cent of its holding to Del Monte Pacific Ltd, an agro operations, processing, marketing and distribution company that operates in the Philippines, China and India.

The choice of Del Monte as a strategic partner reflects the changing retail environment in the country and FieldFresh's intent to move on from just fresh produce exports to domestic processing and sales.

The company now plans to enhance its focus on the Indian market"" a pointer to its logical integration with the Bharti-Wal-Mart retail chain, which is in the works.

FieldFresh will also be a key component of the retail chain's proposed cash-and-carry operations, while also undertaking exports as and when opportunities arise.

Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Enterprises, said the tie-up with Del Monte would allow FieldFresh "to emerge as a significant player in the processed and branded food products segment".

EL Rothschild will stay in the company as a minority partner, holding around 10 per cent of FieldFresh equity. As part of the deal, FieldFresh has also decided to acquire Del Monte Foods India's mango pulp and puree manufacturing facilities in India.

No financial details were revealed for the transactions. FieldFresh is a privately-held company. Bharti Enterprises will continue to hold 50 per cent in it. Rohtas Mal, chief executive officer, FieldFresh, said the transaction details were not in the public domain.

He confirmed that the acquisition of Del Monte's Indian facility was "part of the transaction".

FieldFresh, which started in 2005, had an initial investment of $50 million and planned to bring 20,000 acres under cultivation countrywide.

The move to rope in Del Monte Pacific comes after FieldFresh has had faced severe setbacks in its stated objective of exporting Indian fresh produce to European and West Asian markets.