In order to boost its presence in western Canada and the U.S., fruit and vegetable produce distributor Courchesne Larose Group has acquired The Star Group.

The deal was announced on Monday, but the price paid will remain confidential, according to the company.

“It really fulfills our mandate of becoming the best partner for our retailers on a national basis, so we’re already a leader in Eastern Canada, Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritimes," Michael Aucoin, chief executive officer at Montreal-based Courchesne Larose Group said to FoodNX in an interview. "We think in terms of partnering with Star, we found the leading player to partner with in Western Canada.”

Part of the reasoning behind the purchase is to get direct access to some growers in the west, Aucoin explained.

“In particular the Okanagan Valley, and then the Lower Mainland of B.C., the hothouse environment, where they have significant deployment in sourcing there, that we will be able to help bring those products from those growers across the country.”

Boosted access to American market

As well, Courchesne Larose will benefit from Star’s relationships in the U.S.

“Where we can help Star’s footprint is we’re what you call a full-basket wholesaler, so we have access to pretty much every commodity we source from around the world, so we think in terms of leveraging their relationships,” Aucoin said.

The company can also help fill some gaps in Star’s offerings for U.S. customers.

“Star is very good at a large number of commodities, but not all, so all of a sudden we think we’ll be able to offer some of their customers solutions with commodities that may be frustrating them, and that Star might not have had access to, so we think that’s a good first step in terms of growing the presence in the U.S.,” Aucoin said.

Star will continue to operate under the same name, he said. “We’re going to leave their team intact; our team intact, and really just drive the business forward.”

The produce market today is “incredibly dynamic,” Aucoin said, but by partnering with Star, it will help the company manage through challenging conditions.

“I think retailers are always looking to how they can be better executed in produce, which is a very complicated category, and it’s certainly impacted by geopolitical events, which we think ourselves and Star are well-suited to help retailers navigate.”

Star also has expertise in certain specific commodities, such as grapes, which will complement what Courchesne Larose currently offers.

As well, the partnership should be better able to handle any new areas of growth.

“There’s emerging demand for what we call specialty items; stuff that targets the ethnic market, and they do a good footprint of stuff that sources out of Asia. Us, a little more around the world, and we think we’ll be able to help each other really exploit those growth avenues,” Aucoin said.

Resiliency in face of challenges

While there exists some negative headwinds in the produce market generally, Courchesne Larose is “very resilient to anything that creates supply-chain challenge,” he said.

“We’re more flexible and responsive in terms of being able to source dynamically around the world, so whether it’s things like climate change; consumer shift, or tariffs because both can impact us, or even inflation, the fact that we can respond dynamically and source around the world helps us help our customers be better.”

The deal will add to Courchesne Larose’s growing roster, as several subsidiaries have been added in recent years. The company’s brands include Bercy Foods, Krōps Imports, Marcan Packaging, Dynapro Transport and Veg-Pak Produce. It was founded in 1918 by Déus Courchesne and Victor Larose.

Courchesne Larose is a family-owned company that today employs over 1,050 people. Star Group is based in Saskatoon and it employs more than 850 employees in its 13 facilities.

It was founded in 1989 and its brands include Star Produce, CFP, Sliced FC, BC Hot House, Whole Leaf and Inspired.