Fruit group Fyffes is entering the US winter melon business by investing in a number of independent companies, including farming operations in Honduras and Guatemala and 60 per cent of the Florida-based Sol Group Marketing.

The series of transactions are expected to add around €27 million to its turnover and boost its operating profit by about €2 million. As well as giving Fyffes significant penetration in the US market, the purchases are part of the company's strategy to double the quantity of fruit that it imports.

Sol Group Marketing imports close to eight million cases of winter season melons annually into the US for sale to major retailers and fruit processors and is the second largest player in the market. Fyffes already imports around eight million cases of melons into Europe, where it is the biggest importer of the fruit.

As part of the latest US transactions, Fyffes has invested in an 7,897sq m (85,000sq ft) warehouse and cold storage facility, where most of the imported fruit will be distributed from.

It has also acquired the right to ship all the fruit imported by Sol Group Marketing from Honduras and Guatemala.