By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
A new cross-border partnership is taking shape in the food and agribusiness space. Solum Partners, a Boston, Massachusetts-based investment firm focused on the food supply chain, has formed a strategic partnership with Lincolnshire, England-based Staples Vegetables, one of the U.K.’s leading suppliers of fresh and organic produce. The latest collaboration, bridging the Atlantic to share expertise from both sides of the ocean, will support Staples’ next growth phase by backing its expansion, innovation and long-term sustainability across its produce operations and beyond.
Staples, a family-owned business, takes a fully integrated approach that oversees all phases of its operations, from growing and harvesting through to packaging, refrigerated storage, and distribution using its native transportation system. Through the partnership, Staples seeks to broaden its vegetable production activities as well as its energy segment, where it harnesses anaerobic digestion processes to transform agricultural residues and food processing waste into renewable natural gas (RNG) and electrical power. The company has recently completed upgrades to its energy facilities, paving the way for large-scale RNG production that supplies energy to its operations, slashes greenhouse gas emissions and delivers higher volumes to customers.
Solum Partners Partner Derek Lister stated, “Staples Vegetables exemplifies the kind of innovative, sustainable agribusiness we aim to partner with. Vernon and George have built a business that not only provides fresh food but also generates clean energy from its own by-products. We look forward to working together to accelerate growth, efficiency, and regenerative practices that strengthen the entire supply chain at a time when sustainably sourced produce has become a top priority for retailers and a defining expectation among consumers.”
As a family-owned business for the past six decades, Staples Vegetables is led by Vernon and George Read. Vernon commented, “We are excited to partner with the team at Solum as we continue to invest in both sides of our business: food and energy.” George also weighed in, saying, “Our integrated model allows us to reduce waste, lower emissions, and create a circular system where what we grow helps power how we grow.”
While the partnership itself is unique, the deal is also designed to keep business as usual for Staples’ existing customers and landowners, with the same management team, values and service standards remaining in place. Solum’s investment is expected to help shore up supply, speed the adoption of new technologies, support further gains in product quality and push sustainability efforts further across the food value chain.
Solum is no stranger to the U.K.’s vegetable industry, particularly in the heart of Lincolnshire. Last year, the Boston-based firm formed a comparable partnership with Fountain Plants, a local specialist in growing starter plants for brassicas, lettuce and leeks, for the scaling up of production to meet growing demand for young vegetable crops. These back-to-back investments in Fountain Plants and Staples highlight Solum’s seemingly heightened strategy toward sustained, collaborative commitments in the U.K.’s fresh produce supply chain.
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